a little play in rear wheels (when jacked up)

[ruby76]

Hi (I'm new here), I noticed if I jacked rear of the car up, and with one hand on top of the tire, one near the bottom I got a little play. Would this be the bearings? I thought the previous owner had replaced them. Is it possible that something just needs tightened up? Any previous articles etc about this?

Thanks, Ruby76

 

[SG4206]

Ruby-
Top to bottom is axle end play against the carrier cross pin.. Side to side is usually bearings and control arm bushings.

 

[JohnZ]

Top-to-bottom is also normal compliance of the strut rod bushings and the front trailing arm bushing; if you grab it at 3:00 and 9:00, there's no compliance of components in that plane of movement, and it'll give you a better feel for the bearings.

 

[79-L-82]

Top-to-bottom is also normal compliance of the strut rod bushings and the front trailing arm bushing; if you grab it at 3:00 and 9:00, there's no compliance of components in that plane of movement, and it'll give you a better feel for the bearings.

I had mine up last night and noticed the same thing.
Very slight play.
So, at 9:00 and 3:00 there should be 0 play or is a tiny bit normal?

 

[ruby76]

Thanks guys, I'll have to jack it back up and double check the 9&3 thing. I'll also try top and bottom again and try to look from the back side to see where the strut movement is cause I've never had a rearwheel drive car with this type of setup. Im used to my old 1968 Chevy truck that I sold to get "ruby", just a solid rear axle -


Thanks for the Help! I've really enjoyed reading through the Corvette Action Center Forums.

 

[Chris Kennedy]

This is an interesting thread, but let's confirm what people are saying: If you get a little movement with your hands at the 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock positions, that is NOT wheel bearing related. Correct? If you get a little movement with your hands at the 3 0'clock and 9 0'clock positions, that is wheel bearing related. Correct?

Thanks,

--Chris Kennedy

 

[phulst]

In addition, the only TRUE way to measure the play in your Corvette's rear wheel bearings is to measure the end play with the wheels off the car. Otherwise you can wiggle and pull all day long and not get a clue as to how they are really doing.

I once wiggled the left rear wheel of my 72 and thought I had play. Put it up in the air with the wheel off and measured in/out end play, and it was well within spec. So, take your dial indicator and 20 min of your time, and figure it out for sure.

 

[Craig1979]

While you have the car/rear tire off the ground, also check the movement you have at your differential side yokes. The C3 Corvettes are known to have soft factory side yokes that can wear very quickly. This allows the axle half shaft to move in & out of the differential. If you've got excessive wear it can manifest itself into preceived movement at the tire.
Worn differential side yokes can cause the car to handle poorly, accelerated tire wear, and make it impossible to get a consistant rear wheel alignment.
I recently replaced my excessively worn side yokes with only 41,000 miles on the car.