It is a hub issue! Quote:
Originally Posted by Epic Hi guys,
I have a 2005 Swift Vxi. I have already replaced the wheel bearings twice in the 4 years of ownership. The first time was after my tire upgrade from stock to 195/60/R15 in 2006 and the second time recently when I had changed my tires to 205/55/R15. Is it true that the wheel bearings get busted due to the load exerted by wider tires? I know its the wheel bearings as there is this lound humming sound emitted when going above 60kmph.
Now, I drove to Mahabaleshwar last weekend on these busted wheel bearings. Everything was fine except for the noisy drive. However, on my return trip, a new sound has emerged from the front. It is a wierd scruffing/gringing sound which fades away at high speeds but is very prominent at very low speeds. As the weather was rainy and foggy, I was thinking it could be the brakes getting jammed. I have noticed that it does'nt occur when i start my car for the day but starts after the first time I use the brakes and remain throughout the day.
What could this issue be. Is it the brakes or bearings getting worse? I am anyway giving my car for a complete service next week.
Thanks in advance.
Epic |
Hi all,
Just wanted to update you guys on the above issue that has been worrying me since October 2009 as the so called Maruti 'authorised' service center i.e. Vitesse Andheri West, could not figure out the issue till today and were guessing that the suspension needed lubrication and it is something minor. I was however finding the car not handling upto my satisfaction, which was strange as the Swift is known for its brilliant handling. And also the wheel bearings kept busting which was making me suspect my upsized wheels.
I had given the car to Vitesse last in October 2009 for servicing and changinh the wheel bearings. Now, the warranty of my car expired in December 2009. Since the guys at M.A.S.S. could'nt do anything about the 'scruffing' noise issue (and when I look back I guess they didn't want to do anything about it as the car was under warranty at that time), I decided to now give my car to my local garage. So i gave it to him yesterday to sort out the issue. Now, he is an ex-Maruti guy and can figure out the problem by just taking the car for a test drive. So during the test drive, he came to two conclusions, it is either a worn out brake disc/brake pads OR an issue with the hub assembly. So I left the car with him as he told me that he needed to open it up and check it out for sure and he would cal me and update me with the issue accordingly.
On removing the front wheels, he was shocked to see that the hub nuts on both sides were loose giving both the front wheels a good amount of play and which was also making the hub & brake discs wobble leading them to tounch the brake pads erratically creating the 'scruffing' sound. It made us wondered as to why these nuts were loose. We however thought our problem was solved and that the case was loose hub nuts. On tightening the nuts we realised that both brake discs were still wobbling and the scruffing sound was more audible like in the beginning and then came to a conclusion that the hub assembly was busted. I was shocked as to how come such an evident problem was not spotted by the guys at M.A.S.S? To which my mechanic told me that they may have spotted the problem but did not report it as it would have to be changed through warranty and they would'nt want to absorb that cost. So instead they gave the wheels play so that the noise is less audible. He also told me that a busted hub leads to a busted wheel bearing as they are connected in some way. This explains the handling issues due to play in the wheels and the regular wheel bearing changes due to busted hub assemblies. The M.A.S.S. guys however kept blaming the upsized wheels for the regular busted bearings.
Now I wanted to know the reason for the hub assembly being damaged as my mechanic also agreed that a hub assembly usually gets damaged during an accident involving a side impact. I had an accident involving a side impact in 2007. Which means that again, the guys at M.A.S.S didn't change the hub assembly as required at that time and which in time has led to regular busted wheel bearings and an even more damaged hub assembly in due time. My mechanic had also mentioned that it is always recommended to visit your local mechanic a month before your warranty ends so that he can identify mechanical issues which can be recitified under warranty by the authorised service center.
Hope this has helped. |