Front hub interchangeability Late 88 - 87

[elementsoffury]

I know the part numbers are different between the two, but the ID of the bearings should be the same because they use the same CV joint.

Anyone have experience fitting the 87 hub in the late 88+ steering knuckle / bearing?

Really need to fix this today and this is what I have to work with: Late knuckle, Late bearing, Late ball joint, and Early Hub.


Tried searching but no solid answer.

[elementsoffury]

Definitely does not work. Hub OD / Bearing ID is different.

Think I can get away using this for a week without hurting my bearing badly? Bearing slides right over it and there is play

[mgyip]

Meant to answer earlier but work interfered

The later hubs, which are more desirable, require changing the following:

Spindle
Hub
Wheel Bearing
Ball Joint

That said, I have a fresh "small bearing" spindle, driver's side, that's looking for a good home. I upgraded to the later hubs because they're a bit more durable in my application.

[elementsoffury]

I have the smaller stuff too from my last car which was an 87. Current car is a late 88. Somewhere along the way I put an early spindle on the drivers side. Then a few years later sold the original hub from the spindle that was removed, leaving me with that wrecked hub

I definitely want to put it back to the proper spindle on the drivers side, mainly because I already have a new bearing. So I guess I can drive the next week or two until the meyle hub and febi ball joint arrives. Not too concerned about making the early hub look like the big one posted

FWIW the small ball joint currently on my car probably has over 200k miles on it, while the larger febi brand ball joints seem to never make it to 50k. Most of those miles are with unbalanced wheels.

[elementsoffury]

Ok so it seems the noise went away. Does throwing money at it really fix things?? My parts haven't even shipped yet.

I tried a quick check by holding the tops of the wheels with the car on the ground. And shaking them hard to feel for any play. Both front wheels seem to have equal shifting, which is about half of the shifting of both rear wheels. If I had to put a measurement on the shift; I would guess 1/64 for the fronts and then 1/32 for the rears. IR temp gauge shows even temps all around at the hub centers.



What else could it have been? Turning to the left on the highway made the noise go away. Going straight made noise. Turning right made noise. Noise started at around 40 mph.

[elementsoffury]

I did spin the car 360 that day after sliding out around a turn in the rain, and smashing the front bumper on a guard rail. But I don't see how that would affect anything. Maybe the loose passenger blinker made some kind of weird vibration? Haven touched anything on the car yet though, just been driving it.

[elementsoffury]

Ok so the noise came back. Today I changed the steering knuckle out with a fresh bearing, hub, ball joint, and aligned it.

And the car is still making the noise.

Any tips on how to figure out which bearing it is? Turn to the left and it goes away. Sometimes it doesn't make the noise. Help please, I've never changed the wrong bearing before To me it sounds like it's coming from the front of the car.

[mgyip]

Just re-read the thread. You have play in the rear wheel bearings - have you fixed this yet? If not, do that before you start playing detective.

[elementsoffury]

Just re-read the thread. You have play in the rear wheel bearings - have you fixed this yet? If not, do that before you start playing detective.

It definitely was the rear bearing. Car is going smooth and quiet all the time now.

It seems a tiny bit of play is ok there. The play was only slightly less after adjusting the bearing how the bentley describes. The bearing and race, definitely are not a matching set, but it probably shouldn't make a difference.

[mgyip]

I had an '89 GTi that had a perpetually loose rear wheel bearing even after replacing the internals. Ultimately we determined that the stub axle was to blame but that was more time/effort than I wanted to put into my beater. So I'd tighten it down until it went silent, then I'd repeat the operation a few weeks later when the wheel started howling (again).

[Project_2501]

Personally I'd take the time to upgrade to GLI / ABA brakes up front; 10.1's. Save some more coins for 11" rotors and corrado caliper carriers for better brake heat dissipation and reduced fade. Mony is never wasted on braking performance.

[mgyip]

Personally I'd take the time to upgrade to GLI / ABA brakes up front; 10.1's. Save some more coins for 11" rotors and corrado caliper carriers for better brake heat dissipation and reduced fade. Mony is never wasted on braking performance.

I respectfully disagree - before spending money on calipers, rotors, etc, spend LESS money and purchase a decent set of brake pads. If you're having problems with brakes on the street, I'd suggest that the driver learn how to use the brakes properly.

My car has the tiny, worthless 9.4" vented rotors that are fitted to the Rabbit GTi, which is about 250# lighter than a Mk2. That said, I have dents in the back of my car from cars that couldn't stop as fast as the Golf even with tiny rotors...

[elementsoffury]

Are you saying that there shouldn't be any play at all, in the wheel? Going by the bentley adjustment, it would be too tight if I adjust it that way. The last bearing definitely was not matched to the race and it lasted over 40k miles no problem, and it was a used bearing from my last car. I've never had bearing problems before in the rear or even had a rear bearing go bad in over 13 years of having a mk2 , thats why I went for the front right away. Just thought the rears never failed....Also, I kinda thought a little play was needed for heat expansion.

I definitely don't want to add any weight to the wheels up front. My 16v is slow enough and I'm kinda after fuel mileage. I don't have any problems with the stock 9.4s at all. Never experience any fade, but I definitely can't lock up the wheels no matter how hard I try, on 195 all-season tires. I even ripped out the top pedal cluster mounting stud off the firewall by the steering column last time I tried to lock them up, but I was just messing around at low speed. In my normal daily street / highway driving; I never feel the need to brake that hard. I have some type of pads on there now that have no cold bite, and I definitely don't like them. But, they are very nice when they get heated though, and low dust. I never cut my rotors either.

[mgyip]

The adjustment has nothing to do with play at the wheel but rather with movement at the washer atop the outer bearing. The factory adjustment for the rear wheel bearings is incredibly vague to the point that if you're a 100# weakling, the rear wheels would wobble like a Weeble (anyone remember those stupid toys?).

When I set the rear wheel bearings, I tighten the nut until the washer won't move anymore. Then I spin the rear wheel to seat the bearings to the races and squeeze out any excess grease. Then I check the washer again and usually tighten it a bit more. When I'm done, the washer moves but barely and not without a bit of effort.

As for your brakes - if you're using a semi-metallic pad, you'll typically have no initial bite when the pads are cold because that's how a semi-metallic functions (or doesn't function) - it has no initial bite but starts to grab as it heats up. Organic pads (read: sawdust-pads often seen as OE on older MB and BMW products with jet-black front wheels) work exactly the opposite - great initial bite that goes away as the pad gets hot.

I've been using ceramic pads lately on both my Dad's Mk4 and my B5 - decent initial bite without the horrible dust of an organic pad. They seem to be a good all-around pad for the reasons noted above.

[elementsoffury]

Thanks for all the info and tips

I think I'll try to adjust them that way, hopefully sometime soon when I get to replacing the ebrake cables. The play always seemed wrong to me, because that is a lot of force smacking the bearings around, but I never experienced any issues until now.