<VV> Bearing problems - alignment?

[Chris & Bill Strickland]

Charlie, I'm a little worried that maybe you don't have a full grasp of 
these topics

>So I put front discs on my car a couple months ago and had an alignment done 
>afterwards.
>

Precisely, did you do something in the swap that would have changed the 
alignment?  Or, did you do the alignment just because?

>My drivers side wheel is still cambered a little out words
>

Was it like this after the alignment, or is this a recent change?

Normally, it seems folks refer to camber as positive and negative, and 
toe-in as inward and outward, so although maybe others understand, I'm a 
bit confused what you are describing.

>so I pulled things apart and looked at the warble in the disc as I spun it on the 
>hub,
>

sounds like a badly warped rotor, yes, but what did you expect to find 
that would have effected camber by "spinning the hub"?

>signifying that the alignment wasn't an issue, 
>

alignment is totally a separate (but somewhat related) issue, hopefully, 
and a warped rotor signifies that either you got a bad part to start 
with or you got that one rotor pretty hot.  More commonly, one finds 
badly warped rotors in pairs. Such signifies nothing about the 
alignment, and a lot about the brakes and possibly driving habits.

>so I figured I had worn out bearings. I replaced the bearings and races and repacked the hubs. 
>

I'd have thought this would have been part of the disc conversion, but, 
like the alignment, good to do once in a while

>Turns out, the bearings weren't the problem either; my hub is warped, 
>

Your hub, or your rotor, or is it a one piece affair?  I think it is two 
pieces, as if you'd changed the hub, you'd have done the bearings then, 
I'd assume.  Separate hubs rarely "warp".  Like a certain party and his 
sedan and coupe arguments, you need to use the right names for the part 
so we know what you are really talking about.

> Before you ask, the spindle is straight! 
>

How do you know it isn't bent?  Have you chucked it in a lathe and 
turned it?  Had a machinist check it otherwise?

>the new inner bearing on the passenger side would not fit onto the spindle while the drivers side slid right on with very little play. 
>

Since you probably don't know the entire history of that spindle, it is 
likely that a bearing went bad at one time (or something, and there is 
possibly a burr or ridge on the spindle that needs to be dressed smooth 
(like Charlie's crank "Nick") -- or, maybe, it is bent.

But again, I'm confused -- are all four bearings and eight races new?  
Was the bearing that fit a used bearing? Or are you saying that the new 
bearing on the driver's side fit and the new bearing on the passenger 
side didn't? And you swapped the 2 new bearings and they fit?  That 
right front spindle is the one that takes all the abuse, generally, from 
chuckholes, the edge of the pavement, curbs, and such.

Normally it takes a dial indicator to check for a warped rotor, or 
pulsation in the brake pedal -- seeing the warp in a rotor with the 
naked eye is a pretty fancy talent, and I'd think for it to be that bad, 
you be complaining about a wobble in the steering wheel when you applied 
the brakes -- are you sure the wheel isn't bent?

Were I you, I think I might listen to me when I tell you to take it back 
to the alignment tech with your questions and ask him to show me what, 
if anything, is wrong and why -- if he wants to charge for his time, 
call it the price of education.  If the camber bolt is stripped, he 
should have replaced it and charged you at the time, otherwise he should 
have tightened it fully.

I think I'll stop here,

Bill Strickland