PontiacBonnevilleClub.com

About 3 years ago I noticed something going awry with my right rear tire; it felt like I had a flat tire. I checked the pressure to see if it was a slow leak but it was fine. When traveling at slow speeds I would feel a bump bump coming from the right rear of the car. Come to find out, I had a belt separating from the tire which was causing the rear end to hop around. So I replace the tire, no big deal, and it happens again. This time I look at the wheel. The mechanic I brought the car to initially apparently didn't notice the indentation in my wheel, which I assumed was causing the belt to separate from the tire. At this point it was actually visible from the tread on the tire that something was going wrong. So I replace the wheel and get a new tire, but it still happens. I'm on my fourth tire on the right rear now and it's happening again. Now the tire looses pressure more rapidly too, I'm filling the tire up about every 40 miles of city driving. I rotated the tires and the bad tire is now right front and I feel it in the steering wheel.

Now, what is causing my right rear tires to go bad? I'm using Goodyear Eagle LS which the car came with and many members of my family have used before. Is there something bent in the hub or some part of the suspension? I have drum brakes and am weary about messing around with this but would appreciate any help. I've spent no less than $600 over the course of 3 years!

Thanks!

By the way, I'm a returning member from the other site.

Get the car to an alignment shop.

harofreak00 wrote:Get the car to an alignment shop.

I've had at least two alignments done to the rear, one on the front.

lift the rear of the car.

Using your hands, shake the tire at the 3 & 9 o'clock positions, then at 12 & 6.

harofreak00 wrote:lift the rear of the car.

Using your hands, shake the tire at the 3 & 9 o'clock positions, then at 12 & 6.

OK. What will this accomplish?

seeing if you have a bad wheel bearing/hub.

if you can move it, its REALLY bad.

Gotcha, I'll try it out, thanks.

let me know if it oes move i can tell you how to do a rear hub. I just did one a week ago on my 98 i can telll ya anything you might need to know. my tire was just cupping really bad. I didn't feel much vibration at slow speed but was really bad at high speeds

Thanks for the help guys. I just had my car up and shook the right rear wheel which was originally giving me problems. At 12 and 6, I could not hear or feel any movement. At 9 and 6, I hear a heavy clicking sound with the wheel moving back and forth very slightly. Just for my sanity, I did the other side and found no movement from any position. My amateur conclusion: a bad right rear hub... I guess.

Based on the above, do you guys think my educated guess was correct?

Thanks again for all the help!

yea that is bad soemone correct me if i am wrong but that needs to be replaced. I will get all the number off the tools that i used. I believe it was just a tx5? I will check tomorrow. The problem i ran into was that the bolts were so old that the heads stripped out. I then had to remove the brake shoes to get a Irwin bolt grip in behind the stud plate to oput it on the bolt head. Then i just extracted the bolts and make sure to disconnect hthe abs sensor in the back. then spray the hub a bunch with a break free. PB blaster is what i used then just have fun slowly pounding on it all the way around till it pops free. then just reverse to install

Thanks for the reply. Those steps sound fairly complicated, but what I expected. Will it be any more difficult considering I have rear drum brakes on my Bonneville? This sounds like it'll be an all day event.

harofreak00 wrote:lift the rear of the car.

Using your hands, shake the tire at the 3 & 9 o'clock positions, then at 12 & 6.

Having play while shaking at the 3 & 9 positions is also an indicator of bad inner tie rod.

grey3800 wrote:

harofreak00 wrote:lift the rear of the car.

Using your hands, shake the tire at the 3 & 9 o'clock positions, then at 12 & 6.

Having play while shaking at the 3 & 9 positions is also an indicator of bad inner tie rod.

Interesting. Is there any way to distinguish between the two? Will the clicking point towards one and not the other?

the rear doesn't have tie rods per say, just the adjustment link.

jpp355 wrote:Thanks for the reply. Those steps sound fairly complicated, but what I expected. Will it be any more difficult considering I have rear drum brakes on my Bonneville? This sounds like it'll be an all day event.

THe rear drum brakes won't be an issue unless you strip one of the heads out. I did the whole swap in about three hours start to finish. The hub will pull straight out of the brake assembly and not have to take any of it off. It is really not that complicated once you look at it. very straight forward.
http://www.autozone.com/addVehicleId,25 ... 52800b20cf

If you have someone shake the tire at 3 and 9 and you look behind the wheel you should be able to tell if its the hub or tie-rod. The tire rod will show play where it attaches to the spindle. If you don't see any movement there then its most likely the hub.

Thanks b18jason. I guess I'll give it another try just to be sure. It looks like we have the same year and model Bonneville!

b18jason wrote:If you have someone shake the tire at 3 and 9 and you look behind the wheel you should be able to tell if its the hub or tie-rod. The tire rod will show play where it attaches to the spindle. If you don't see any movement there then its most likely the hub.

So... being that the problem is with the rear wheel, why would a tie rod be involved?

jpp355 wrote:

b18jason wrote:If you have someone shake the tire at 3 and 9 and you look behind the wheel you should be able to tell if its the hub or tie-rod. The tire rod will show play where it attaches to the spindle. If you don't see any movement there then its most likely the hub.

So... being that the problem is with the rear wheel, why would a tie rod be involved?

I think he may be talking about the adjustment link as seen in this pix:

I see - that's a nice diagram. I'll take a peak tomorrow.