Bad tire wear pattern ? and some other questions ?

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BCviking

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May 8, 2013
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Location
BC Canada
My Car
1973 Mustang Coupe 351c
Im Kinda a mechanical newb but i decided to do brakes and wheel bearings ,when i took off the passenger side front tire i found that it had bad wear on the inside , the drivers front wear is uniform. What should i be looking for, what could be out of wack ? and how could i fix the issue ? ,, another question with the wheel bearings , i cant get bering races out of the hub , any advice ? they wont tap out ? there is lots of life left on the rotor , so i wana reuse it if possible .. heres some pics

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Inside tread wear may be from excessive positive toe or negative camber.

Look for:

- Worn ball joints and tie rod ends

- Collapsed shock towers. The tops (at the shock mount area) will tend to "come together" with age and chassis flex/sagging, increasing "negative camber" at the tires.

- Sagging front springs will contribute to negative camber.

Of course, it could be one or a combo of several worn or out of spec components.

 
Is there a step in that bearing race or is that an illusion? If it's a step replace the bearing and race.
Yea im going to replace the races but i cant get them out , tried whacking them out with a punch with no luck , the rotor is still good but i might just have to buy another rotor cause i cant get those old races out ? any tips on how to get those darn things out? sorry im a newb..

 
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Is there a step in that bearing race or is that an illusion? If it's a step replace the bearing and race.
Yea im going to replace the races but i cant get them out , tried whacking them out with a punch with no luck , the rotor is still good but i might just have to buy another rotor cause i cant get those old races out ? any tips on how to get those darn things out? sorry im a newb..
Hit them harder. :p Maybe put a torch on them quick, then try again.

 
In regards to the tire wear, that is a camber problem. If you had a toe issue, I would expect to see a feather edge to the wear with the feathering continuing across the tread of the tire. Now this camber issue can indeed be caused by worn ball joints, sagging springs, or even the collapsing shock towers.

As for the bearing races, if you look through the rotor to the inside of the races, there will be a pair of "notches" in the rotor. Place a strudy punch into this notch and hammer the races out, alternating between the two opposing notches. Keep in mind that you want to use a race install tool to install the new races - fully into the rotor - to avoid scoring of the surface.

Are you replacing the bearings? If the bearings and races do not have any scoring or binding issues, you may be able to just repack them liberally with grease.

 
On the races

+ 1 with hit them harder

Also keep moving around with each hit - move about an inch each time

Keep working it out

 
In regards to the tire wear, that is a camber problem. If you had a toe issue, I would expect to see a feather edge to the wear with the feathering continuing across the tread of the tire. Now this camber issue can indeed be caused by worn ball joints, sagging springs, or even the collapsing shock towers.

As for the bearing races, if you look through the rotor to the inside of the races, there will be a pair of "notches" in the rotor. Place a strudy punch into this notch and hammer the races out, alternating between the two opposing notches. Keep in mind that you want to use a race install tool to install the new races - fully into the rotor - to avoid scoring of the surface.

Are you replacing the bearings? If the bearings and races do not have any scoring or binding issues, you may be able to just repack them liberally with grease.
The car has been lowered with a grab a track spring kit , as far as inspecting the ball joints? its a bit of a job right ? im guessing i would have to compress the coil spring ? the ball joints seem to be rivited to the control arms , would i have to get whole new arms ? Might go see what a alignment shop says ... as for those damn races i give up !! i have hit them so hard with a BFH and a punch , tried heat , ether of them wont budge , i cant hit them any harder then i did, just have to buy a new rotor i guess ..

 
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You can try to cut the race with a die grinder and cutoff wheel, be very careful.

You should be able to lift the car by the frame and take the weight off the suspension and grab the tire and shake vigorously, if the ball joints are bad you'll feel the slop. You can cut the rivets and knock them out with a punch. The new ball joints bolt in. It will be MUCH easier with the arms out on the bench!

BTW I bought a spring compressor from Autozone (OEM brand internal)... it was the best spring compressor I've ever used. It has the hooks on one end and a plate on the other that has nubs to lock into the spring. They'll "loan" them out if you do not want/need one.

 
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You could press the races out if the bearing are toast and welded them in. Save the old races in your toolbox. They come in handy.

 
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