Wheel Bearing Repack / New Rotor / car pulls to right

Hi,

I had my car to Sears for new tires. The dude with the airgun
overtightened some lug nuts, and 3 days later my left front rotor was
warped, and the car was shaking each time I braked. I went back to
Sears and beat the hell out of the airgun dude, of course (just
kidding). I had so many problems with the lying manager at Sears I
decided to not go back there again, and put on a new brake rotor
myself. When I had the old rotor off, I repacked the wheel bearings. I
put new pads on also. I left the front right rotor alone, but put new
pads on that side too.

I think it took a few days, but then my car started to noticeably
pull off to the right (sometimes) with and without applying the brakes.
Sometimes the brakes make it pull right, sometimes it brakes in a
straight line. Sometimes when coasting, it pulls right, sometimes not.
It never pulls to the left.

The repacked wheel bearings went in OK and everything was nice and
snug when I turned in the adjusting nut, then backed off a bit and
inserrted the cotter pin in the first available hole. There was a
slight movement and clunking sound when I grabbed the tire/wheel and
moved it, no more than usual, and the cotter pin was in the right spot.


Maybe all the shaking when I was braking with the warped rotor wore
out some suspension parts? I drove it that way for about 2 months. But
why wasn't it pulling to the right the day before I put in the new
bearings and rotor?

thanks

Could be a number of things, but I suspect the fact that you put a new rotor
on
one side and didnt touch the right side has something to do with it.

You normally want both rotors to have as nearly as possible the same surface
condition. You disturbed that by installing a new rotor. Had you surfaced
both
front rotors, you might not be having this problem. And at the same time
you
would have greased and adjusted the bearing load on the right side as well.

Glad you didn't replace the pads on just one side. That will cause the same
pulling.

I doubt that the short experience you had with Sears induced wobble wore
anything
unduly.

Wheel bearings have a tendency to need a retorque when done the way you
describe. They need to be tightened hard with a torque wrench to 'set'
the cones and bearings in place, then backed off and come at it the way
you did.

I would sure be checking that first.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Caprice85 wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I had my car to Sears for new tires. The dude with the airgun
> overtightened some lug nuts, and 3 days later my left front rotor was
> warped, and the car was shaking each time I braked. I went back to
> Sears and beat the hell out of the airgun dude, of course (just
> kidding). I had so many problems with the lying manager at Sears I
> decided to not go back there again, and put on a new brake rotor
> myself. When I had the old rotor off, I repacked the wheel bearings. I
> put new pads on also. I left the front right rotor alone, but put new
> pads on that side too.
>
> I think it took a few days, but then my car started to noticeably
> pull off to the right (sometimes) with and without applying the brakes.
> Sometimes the brakes make it pull right, sometimes it brakes in a
> straight line. Sometimes when coasting, it pulls right, sometimes not.
> It never pulls to the left.
>
> The repacked wheel bearings went in OK and everything was nice and
> snug when I turned in the adjusting nut, then backed off a bit and
> inserrted the cotter pin in the first available hole. There was a
> slight movement and clunking sound when I grabbed the tire/wheel and
> moved it, no more than usual, and the cotter pin was in the right spot.
>
> Maybe all the shaking when I was braking with the warped rotor wore
> out some suspension parts? I drove it that way for about 2 months. But
> why wasn't it pulling to the right the day before I put in the new
> bearings and rotor?
>
> thanks

"Caprice85" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hi,
>
> I had my car to Sears for new tires. The dude with the airgun
> overtightened some lug nuts, and 3 days later my left front rotor was
> warped, and the car was shaking each time I braked. I went back to
> Sears and beat the hell out of the airgun dude, of course (just
> kidding). I had so many problems with the lying manager at Sears I
> decided to not go back there again, and put on a new brake rotor
> myself. When I had the old rotor off, I repacked the wheel bearings. I
> put new pads on also. I left the front right rotor alone, but put new
> pads on that side too.
>
> I think it took a few days, but then my car started to noticeably
> pull off to the right (sometimes) with and without applying the brakes.
> Sometimes the brakes make it pull right, sometimes it brakes in a
> straight line. Sometimes when coasting, it pulls right, sometimes not.
> It never pulls to the left.
>
> The repacked wheel bearings went in OK and everything was nice and
> snug when I turned in the adjusting nut, then backed off a bit and
> inserrted the cotter pin in the first available hole. There was a
> slight movement and clunking sound when I grabbed the tire/wheel and
> moved it, no more than usual, and the cotter pin was in the right spot.
>
>
> Maybe all the shaking when I was braking with the warped rotor wore
> out some suspension parts? I drove it that way for about 2 months. But
> why wasn't it pulling to the right the day before I put in the new
> bearings and rotor?
>
> thanks
>
Your saying it pulls with OR WITHOUT braking indicates the caliper could
be twisted while off and was re-installed with a kink in the flex fluid
line; causes sort of a valve-effect holding/applying force on that caliper
whether or not you are applying brakes. (I know--long sentence!) HTH, s