Since I have my wheel of the car, is there any maitenance that can be done? I'm thinking of cleaning, checking anything, or prevenative type repaid.

 

Consult the Bentley Service Manual for torque specs and apply correct torque to every fastener you encounter.

Front: inspect the brake pads for even wear and thickness, grab the control arm near the rear bushing bracket and try to move it, inspect the bushing & bracket for oil residue, put a small mirror up behind the bracket and visually inspect the control arm bushing, grab the tie rod and feel for unnatural movement, unbolt the wheel sensor pickup and wipe it off, grab the strut spring and push/pull to feel for lateral movement at the guide support bearing, smear a light coating of water proof grease on the center hub spindle to avoid seizing with the wheel, remove the lower strut pinch bolt on the steering knuckle and apply anti-seize to the threads & re-torque, apply anti-seize to the wheel bolts before installing.

Rear: inspect the brake pads for even wear and thickness, visually inspect the trailing arm & camber link (control arm) bushings, pull the wheel sensor pick-up and clean, grab the strut spring and test for upper strut movement, apply correct torque to the trailing arm bracket bolts and arm end bolt to ensure they are correctly fastened, smear a light coating of water proof grease on the center hub spindle, apply anti-seize to the wheel bolts.

 

Thanks K-huevo. Is bentely the best manual resource available?

 

or chilton, I never remember. I have the Bently, it's OK. There are a few mistakes and ommissions. Haven't seen the other, but it's much mush smaller a book!

Matt

 

Great advice, agreed, but some clarification on the "waterproof grease" part is in order. Maybe a VERY light coating if any, or a light coating of anti-seize (for higher temp applications) and to the centerbore only. Friction between the wheel surface and hub (when lugs are tight) is important, as it transfers most of the load from the wheel to the hub (it's definitely not only the lugs at play here).

You also don't want that grease migrating (centripetal force) beyond the hub onto the more important bits. A tiny amount goes a LONG way, and too much can certainly go too far.

 

Use the opportunity to clean your wheel wells and then use Black Wow. While my MINI was up on stands I got Black Wow fever and ended up doing every plastic part under the car - and there's a lot under there. At least for a while I had the cleanest, blackest plastic gas tank on the planet.
Oh and I shined up my exhaust while I was at it.

DixonL2 - BTW, nice use of centripetal force and thank you for not using centrifugal!

 

but when you do that, most don't know what you're talking about!

Matt

 

hmmmm, 'kay.... how about this then:

Be keerful, 'cuzzat dang dinky lil' tire gits goin' roun' and roun' so fast, it'll just be a'flingin that thar greaze all 'round them thar fancy-pants disco brakes... not lak thit thar Eff-One-Fitty, them bigger tahrs don' go 'roun so quick an' so ya kin use jus' plain ol' greez an' if'n it gits on them ol' drum brakes it'll jus' git flung on outta thar 'n not git 'tween them brake shoes an' the drums...

 

No I don't think so, I like centripetal force thank you very much.
But seriously, I use a copper-based anti-seize lub in the hub center and on the face, but none on the threads of the lugs. This is based on several NAM threads on the subject and a discussion with my SA. Are you saying my wheel is going to fall off? Mind I use a very light coating and the wheel face is ribbed and I do torque to the spec'd 88 ft-lbs.

 

i do a quick check each time... simple stuff like look for corrosion,
check brake pad thickness (visually both sides - just use a mirror),
CV seals, brake line corrosions, damper leaks, etc. dont use any
harsh cleaners down there. you can wipe off the grime with some
wet paper towels or even a mild simplegreen mix.

 

Also a good opportunity to clean the back side of the wheels while you have them off!

 

^^ very true!

 

Well then there I never done said yer wheel is a'gonna fall off! only said that the surface of the hub in contact with the wheel is an important interface for force transfer between wheel and hub - it's not "just" the lugs or "just" the centering ring, but the entire assembly (hub face "friction" included) that transfers force:

lugs: Supply pressure to the hub/wheel interace and, in a mild way, for torque transfer - though most of that is handled through the hub/wheel interface

centering ring: Really only to make sure wheel is centered when lugs are torqued - how else can one explain how a relatively soft material like nylon can be used in this application? Agreed, though, that metal is better in racing or hard usage (high temp or fast wheel change) applications where a tougher/harder/more temperature resistant material is required.

hub face Basically through static friction (I can't recall the engineering term but it's what happens when two surfaces are forced together under pressure and they kinda meld to one another) for transfer of side-to-side motion, torque, up an' down, and all other forces - like the round and round ones :impatient .

Hope that helps, now that I've driven this a bit off topic (apologies), I'm outta here...

 

Here is an example of why I recommend applying a light coat of waterproof grease to the hub spindle (I never said to apply any to the hub face). This is a GP hub with only 10,000 miles in South Texas; imagine a wheel exposed to salted road winter conditions.


The wheel was frozen to the hub spindle.

 

Yep - there are times when being technically correct just confuses people.

As an example, "forte", when used to describe someone's strong point or ability, is correctly pronounced "fort", not "FOR-tay", but if you use the correct pronunciation, people generally look at you like you have two heads.

 

Maybe this has been mention, I just don't know what the official name of the part is. Remove the torx bolt that holds the rotor in place and put high temp anti-seize on it. Torque it to 20 lbs when replacing it.

 

When I had my wheels off to paint the hubs and calipers I noticed from the factory they had put grease all around this area. Good idea to rotate tires regularly and keep this area greased.

 

It is a very very good idea to grease that screw holding the disc onto the hub.

I know with my hondas, one that gets rusted into place, it is a hell of a time drilling it out and getting the threads cleared in the hub.

lots of lithium grease or another water prof grease on that bolt and hole will save you when you do a brake job.