1994 Volvo 850 Wheel Bearing or Broken Lugs?

Carboncopy · Post by **Carboncopy** » 20 Nov 2016, 10:15

Hi all,

I have been having a terrible grinding noise happen on my 850 above 50 km/h, and it has all the signs of being a possible wheel bearing issue on the front passengers side. But when I went to change to my snow tires today, I discovered I have three broken lugs out of five on the side I suspected of having a bad bearing. There was lots of wheel play side to side, but there is no play in the brake rotor. So I am left wondering if its the bearing that's gone bad, and the vibration broke the lugs, or the lugs broke on their own and are giving me the symptoms of a bad front bearing. Any advice anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in Advance.

Post by **oragex** » 20 Nov 2016, 10:37

To properly check the bearing before removing it, remove the brake caliper, the brake disc, then you can turn the bearing by hand and feel for any roughness. A little roughness is not bad, too much or worse some play indicates it needs replacing. Just don't condemn a bearing without testing it first attached to the wheel spindle. Side note, it is not possible to properly check the bearing if the brake disc and caliper are not removed.

If the whole spindle has play, might well be a worn ball joint or loosen lower strut bolts.

Quite rare to have broken wheel lugs. Some causes might be these were low cost aftermarket wheel lugs, or have been fiercely tighten down and weakened in the process.

beigg · Post by **beigg** » 20 Nov 2016, 10:46

Snapped or pulled through the threads?

Check inner and outer tierod's as well as any signs of a compromised axle.

Post by **rspi** » 20 Nov 2016, 10:55

Yikes! If the lugs are broken, you may have to replace the hub to install new one. Can you get the broken pieces out?

The main causes of broken lugs are impact tools and over torquing. I see both often.

I would replace any bearing that had anything less than smooth fluid motion.

Carboncopy · Post by **Carboncopy** » 20 Nov 2016, 11:11

Hi all,

Lugs were not overtightened, I have always properly torqued them to Volvo spec with a torque wrench. I do have an impact, but its a cordless one, and after the first one I tried with the impact came out broken off I switched to a 1/2 ratchet and socket, and two more came out broken off. They are broken, not stripped threads, broke off either flush or inset into the hub. My CV boot is torn, but that's a fairly recent issue and there is no clicking on turns. I am tempted to try to extract them, but not sure its worth it if the bearing might be cooked anyway. Will try to get rotor off to check how grind-ey it is, feels a little grind-ey now with the rotor still on and the caliper off.

Post by **abscate** » 20 Nov 2016, 16:33

Both of my FWB bearings on my 1999 were loud with no feeling of grittiness or seizing apparent either on the car or on the bench.

Check to see if the plastic shield fits your model to help keep crap out of the bearings

There was a TSB on this and a thread too

Post by **oragex** » 20 Nov 2016, 17:43

A spindle with the bearing is not expensive on Ebay of scrappers. I'd surely replace the wheel lugs on all wheels, with some used original lugs, not aftermarket

JeffHicks · Post by **JeffHicks** » 21 Nov 2016, 21:58

Replacing the bearing hub is a pain in the neck, for no more of a job than it should be. But if it needs to be done, it needs to be done.

One word of caution is to make sure you don't buy the cheap store-brand hub assemblies. Many of them grind and make bad noise right out of the box. I bit the bullet, and bought Moog for my V70. It was a good choice.

Post by **polskamafia mjl** » 22 Nov 2016, 00:38

abscate wrote:FWB

I don't have your acronym manual, abscate; what does FWB stand for?

Post by **abscate** » 22 Nov 2016, 10:20

polskamafia mjl wrote:
abscate wrote:FWB
I don't have your acronym manual, abscate; what does FWB stand for?

FWB Bearing is a front wheel bearing bearing...

Sorry about that AWOD