Front wheel wiggles - hub replacement, right?

Hi,

I'm trying to track down slop in my front end, and I think I've found the culprit. On both front wheels, if I grab the top and bottom (while the axle is jacked up), I can wiggle the wheel back and forth slightly, hearing a clunk when I do. The ball joints aren't giving (the knuckle doesn't move), but rather the stub axle wiggles within the knuckle. That has to mean it's hub replacement time, right?

Any super secret squirrel source for those cheap, besides Ebay?

Thanks,
Ben

You've got it. Sorry, I know of no super secret source for new ones. I get mine at the junkyard.

While you're investigating, you might want to check the ball joints a second time, even though it's pretty clear you have found your main problem. Jack up one side of the axle, just enough to get the wheel a couple of inches off the ground. Now using a big lever with a small fulcrum just ahead of the tire, lift up on the wheel. Look for up and down movement at the ball joints, especially the upper. Sometimes this will show up sooner than side play.

Matthew Currie said:

You've got it. Sorry, I know of no super secret source for new ones. I get mine at the junkyard.

While you're investigating, you might want to check the ball joints a second time, even though it's pretty clear you have found your main problem. Jack up one side of the axle, just enough to get the wheel a couple of inches off the ground. Now using a big lever with a small fulcrum just ahead of the tire, lift up on the wheel. Look for up and down movement at the ball joints, especially the upper. Sometimes this will show up sooner than side play.

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Great, thanks for the confirmation and the tip on checking the ball joints; I'll give that a try.

I recently replaced my '89 hubs. Advanced Auto parts had an economy priced hub for about $80.00 each and better ones for $160.00 each. Not sure the difference but I went with the high priced one....both were from the same manufacture.

Also if I had to do it again I would change the ball joints as they were almost dry - the zerk hole was open and not capped when installed. They were fine with no movement, but almost dry as mentioned, but more a preventive maintenance and since the hubs are off the ball joints were right there for replacement.

Also check the axle u-joints.

Double check the axle nut just to be sure it's not lose.