Vibration at 75mph. Bad hub?

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ESP47

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I can't seem to get my car to go past 75mph (not that its really necessary) anymore without a pretty decent vibration. I've been noticing a weird sound when I take sharp right hand turns. Almost like something is loose in the suspension. Sounds like a light clunking sound. I jacked the car up and nothing in the suspension seems loose. I did a suspension rebuild about 3 years ago and it's never given me problems. I can also kind of hear a "whomp whomp whomp" as I'm driving in a straight line. This is on a 71 Duster with 9" drums.

I went and bought new inner bushings, races and seals this weekend. I looked down in the hub and they are a little different than 67 9" drums. Inside the hub, the race buts right up against the lip on a 67. On my 71, the race sits about 3/8" above the lip. One thing I noticed is there is less of a lip on one side, almost like the hub has been rounded out. Both hubs are exactly the same so I'm not quite sure if its just the casting or what. Either way it's my only mode of transportation so I had to install the bearings and get on the road. The bearings didn't fix the problems I've been having so I'm guessing its either the drums or something else. What do you guys think?
 
[quote1969436241]
On my 71, the race sits about 3/8" above the lip. One thing I noticed is there is less of a lip on one side, almost like the hub has been rounded out. [/quote]

There's something wrong there. The race should sit flush with the lip of the hub. You may need a new hub/drum assembly.

Posting pics may help figure it out.....
 
Check tire balance & Rule it out. Check Ball joints for play. You need to "Unload" them to do this by jacking under the control arm.
 
I would clean those hubs up really good, remove the bearing races, and take a REAL GOOD LOOK

Your description does not sound "right."

I HAVE had a failed hub, years ago, on my 70 RR. The inner race on one side "ate" the bore out so that the race was !!!LOOSE!!! at the bottom of the hub bore.

I could not tell by wiggling the hub around on the spindle. It sure as heck caused a "wierd" vibration.
 
I can also kind of hear a "whomp whomp whomp" as I'm driving in a straight line
Click to expand...

This is a classic bad wheel bearing sound. Turning left or right should make the whomp whomp stop or become less noticeable when the bad bearing is unloaded. In other words turning right will load up the left wheel as the car keels over to the left, and vicversa.

As suggested previously, remove suspected races and bearings from hub and drum, clean them than look for discoloration, pitting, grinding or rough feel when bearing is turned by hand, all signs that the bearing is no good, and needs to be replaced.

Vibration could be caused by not properly tightening wheel bearing which will destroy the bearing after a while.
 
67Dart273 said:
I HAVE had a failed hub, years ago, on my 70 RR. The inner race on one side "ate" the bore out so that the race was !!!LOOSE!!! at the bottom of the hub bore.

I could not tell by wiggling the hub around on the spindle. It sure as heck caused a "wierd" vibration.
Click to expand...
Ditto. In my 69 Dart slant w/ 9" drums, both hubs failed like that. The outer race spun in the hub, which ruined the hub.

The first time it happened on a trip from GA to CA in 1986. Because of a squeak on turns I stopped and had a shop in AL change the front wheel bearings. I watched, and it appeared he did it right and backed off a little on the spindle nut. The bearing failed in MS and welded the bearing race to the spindle, which a great welder cut off w/ Ox. The outer race spun in the hub, but they had a Valiant for parts w/ 9" hub in the yard.

The other hub failed in 1989 on a trip. I took it to Brake-O and they put a new drum on the bad hub, charged me $350, then showed me the wobbly race and said "you can fix that yourself". I learned to avoid shops. No 9" hub at any junkyard in Atlanta, so drove the car back to TN and found a 9" hub there.

If your hub is bad, you might consider changing to 10" drums, since I suspect 9" hubs are marginal. You can get almost free since many change to disk brakes (another idea, many posts). Indeed, my new 64 Valiant has 9" drums so I'll start looking for spare hubs now.
 
I would start with your tires, sounds like a possible flat spot or out of balance tires maybe even choppy edgewear causing road noise and vibration. With my experience with wheel bearings its more of a constant whining/moaning noise rather than a "womp" noise. Usually itll get louder as you drive then disappear when u make a turn.(thats if its a bearing) i've also had them give me a vibration that can be felt in the floorpans. But like i said start with your basic stuff give your tires a look over if you have access to a lift or balancer for the hell of it spin them and watch them see if there are any dips or anything on the tires. Worked for a tire shop for a few years and alot of times ppl mistake suspension noise for tire noise. Hope this helps.
shane
 
The inside of the passenger side hub did have some roughness to it like something had been rubbing at some point. I took some 320 grit and smoothed it out a little bit but not enough to where the race wouldn't fit in there snug. The original races were a pain to get out, I don't think they were loose in there. The passenger side one could have spun at some point but it was tough to get out of there.

I think what I'm going to do is pull the drums off my girlfriends 67 Valiant and throw them on my car and see if the noise goes away. I was confused when I took the first drum off and saw that the race was seated a little ways above the lip inside the hub. Then I pulled the other side off and it was the exact same way. When I pressed the races back in, they seemed to want to stop in the exact same spot, which makes me believe thats just where they're supposed to sit.
 
I put the other drums on and I still get the vibration. The Valiant has new tires mounted and balanced, so I'm going to throw those on and see what happens.
 
Your car is probably dribbling the the tires down the freeway due to some bad shocks. I would check the shocks. And tires for cupping that would be a sign of bad shock.
 
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