9"drums

i heard a subtle grinding noise, almost as if the bearing was dry on the front driver side wheel. i pulled off the drum thinking it would be the pads were either worn or out of adjustment, but everything looked good. the pads were not cracked, the drum on the inside looked fine. scratched my head and stared at it for a minute.

decided that i should switch drum and tire from the other side. I put the passenger side drum and tire on the driver side and vice versa. i could spin the tire with my hand and still hear the grinding sound. the drum is not rubbing on anything behind it (steering knuckle or upper ball joint). i took the outer bearings from the opposite drum and put them in the one that was making noise to see if those were it. The bearings looked good and the sound persisted. i concluded that the sound was the inner bearing (it may have spun).

today i took the drum down and removed the inner bearing. I used a brass punch and walked it out just as was advised on here. there were some scratch marks on the inner bearing seat that looked like someone tried to pound it in with a screwdriver and scored the walls. my assumption was correct, the bearing was bad. i packed the new one (mexican made) nice with wheel grease and put everything back together. wheel spun nicely and i adjusted the brakes properly, but the grinding sound persisted.

driving to work, the sound was not as loud, and sometimes not there at all, but occasionally i would hear it griding (or feel it through the steering wheel). when i made a left hand turn, about 1 and 1/4 turn in the grinding is waaayyyyy louder. when i got to work i put the wheel in the position where the grinding was the loudest and looked behind it with a flashlight. nothing is touching the drum, and the ball joints are both new. new tie rod ends also.

i'm concluding that it's the drum that is at fault here. i also noticed that when i seated the new inner bearing race it was kinda loose in there, are they suppose to sit tight against the walls and have no play?

so men, my question is: "do you guys think it's the drum also?" and if so, would it be better to just grab a new one or have this one resurfaced? i'm not so trusting of machine shops where i live (los angeles). bad experiences with people not putting things together properly.

thanks for your time, sorry so long.

_________________
70 Plymouth Valiant 4dr

Bearing race must be tight in the hub. If not the hub and bearing will fret against each other. Sounds like you have a bad hub.

_________________
Joshua

bad hub? that does sound correct. i forgot that the hub and drum are separate from one another. as i'm at work (heheh ) i can't do much searching online for a new hub. is there anything worth wild aftermarket or am i better off at the junkyard in hopes to find a 9" drum mopar?

_________________
70 Plymouth Valiant 4dr

The 9 inch hub is known for spinning the bearing race and causing the noise described.
If the race has been spinning in the hub for a while, then the hub (hub / drum assembly) needs to be replaced.
If the race is not real loose in the hub, it is possible to remove the race, "knurl" the hub surface, (use a punch and "dot" the surface with a pattern of punch marks) the clean and reinstall the race using epoxy.
DD

went over to atlas auto salvage this morning on sherman way and picked up a new hub/drum assembly. the race on the hub i have was real loose, i'd say about 1/4" play in it. i'll install the new assembly tonight and let you guys know what happens.

thank you to all for your knowledge.

-doc, if i ever make it up near you, i'm buying you a beer man.

_________________
70 Plymouth Valiant 4dr

installed new hub. all good. brakes actually tighter now. no noise, no grind, no problems. thanks for the info guys.

_________________
70 Plymouth Valiant 4dr