Play in front wheel bearings - BIS

[ciaoflyer]

Hi

Got some play in front wheel bearings, now I think it is because the hub nut is not tight enough.  How much play should there be?  Can these be tightened and re staked or do I need new?  If new is it worth replacing the bearings?

My MOT is due next month is it worth leaving it till then and see what happens or are my bearings going to collapse?

Thanks!

[Amateb8]

I think there should be a bit of play but not much. I am a bit lucky that the MoT chap that did mine was Italian (Spanish?) who owned and worked with 500s and had 126s as well, so he knew about the "play" in the front wheels. He would put the front wheel play as an advisory to cover himself and the garage. But he says, I can ignore it. Before I discovered him, I always struggled to explain how there should be some movement in the front wheels to the tester.

Difficult to gauge the tightness. The MoT chap says, making the nut too tight would mean the bearings go very quickly.

My MoT is also due in October, so I am bit anxious. I hope he still works there.

[GTMaster]

Can only confirm bearing damage by overtightening them. It's ok to tighten to the factory torque measurement (70Nm i think) but then you have to loosen the nut as much as the hub starts to rotate freely with minimal resistance (if it's too tight it feels as if the hub is full of sand for e.g., difficult to explain in words...)
If the bearings aren't 'loud' (if the wheel is spun it makes a grinding noise) then there's no need to change them.  If the bearing is still loose or is still making noises after tightening it then it has to be replaced.

[Draigflag]

Mine are not much tighter than finger tight. Sounds very worrying, but it was the only way the wheels would spin freely with minimal resistance. Too tight and they would "stutter" around in a notchy motion.