Hello,
I have a very annoying issue that made me changing the front right wheel knuckle on my Suzuki swift 1995, the problem is the front right wheel bearing keep getting slightly loose with little rattle and play when I drive after i tighten the axle nut and drive the car for a short or long trip I feel the care pull to the right slightly when i apply hard brake at high speed! I feel the right side is not smooth as the left side when apply brake even when on low speed just after I tighten the axle nut as I mentioned before, but after that the car doesn't pull to the right but I feel something getting loose when I apply brake at low speed!
I changed the knuckle many times, maybe 4 times as I remember over 2 years but the last one is the best as all of the others had wrapped hub, maybe I have wrapped rotor on the right side? the brake caliper is not stuck and I can move it freely on the guide pins, I've noticed tapered brake pads wear when I changed the brake pads few months ago!
Any idea what to check for my issue!
Are you doing anything to lock the spindle nut in place after you tighten it?
Thank you for your reply, yes there is a notch on the cv joint where I use a punch to lock the nut after tightening it.. but what I've noticed that the other side nut don't need much torque to remove the bearing play while tightening it! But the right side need much torque to remove the bearing free play than the recommended torque specification! I used two koyo bearings, NTN and GMB brands over 2 years and all have the same issue and the surprising one that has the little free play and I feel the car more stable with steering is with the KG bearing brand which is made in China with less torque even with free play felt while the car on the ground when I grab the wheel and move it back and forth or in and out at 2 o'clock position!!
As I mentioned before I changed the knuckle 4 times and all have the same torque issue with many different expensive bearing brands!
If i uses much torque I noticed that it get loose too and it ends with CV joint threads to get reverted to the out side and stripped with hard braking! I thought it was a bent rotors or bad or stucking caliper but i don't use brake while tightening the axle nut, I use just and old CV joint under the wheel and this method is working on the left side too without any similar issue!
It's possible that the bearing race is worn out, thereby having the bearing tight in one place a loose in another.
I think you can eliminate the knuckle and bearing itself from being the problem. As you know, there should be little to no difference in the torque required. Look at the linked article and see if any of the do and don't apply to you. Good luck!
Thanks oldandy for the info, I will check that and see if I did any thing wrong!
Have a nice day!