Steering shimmy and adjusting wheel bearings

[Gulfstream2000]

Hi,

From about 40 - 55mph I have some steering wheel shimmy. ( SL55 )

Have gone through the usual route of balancing, alignment, checking for play in suspension etc ...

The only play I can find is in the classic wheel bearing play check, 12 o'clock and 6 clock leverage. You can hear a distinct clonk.

So setting up with dial gauge with .02mm end play ( parallel to axle), I can still feel quit a distinct clonk when grabbing the rotor at 12 and 6 and effectively twisting it
rather than the push / pull - parallel measurement.

* Note - if I tighten up the bearing considerably - there is no clonk, but I'm worried about too much rotational resistance.

My question is for those that have adjusted your bearings, do you feel any play with the 12 / 6 oclock twist check after ?

Thanks !

 

[190]

With the bearing play set correctly you should still feel some play but it should be barely perceptible and I wouldn't describe it as a clonk. The last time I did mine. I tightened the nut to zero play and then backed off the fraction of a turn required, calculated on a measurement of the thread pitch. It eliminates any errors in setting up and using a dial gauge though you do then have to measure a small angle accurately.

 

[Gulfstream2000]

With the bearing play set correctly you should still feel some play but it should be barely perceptible and I wouldn't describe it as a clonk. The last time I did mine. I tightened the nut to zero play and then backed off the fraction of a turn required, calculated on a measurement of the thread pitch. It eliminates any errors in setting up and using a dial gauge though you do then have to measure a small angle accurately.

Hi 190, thanks for reply. Thats interesting I obviously have too much play if I have a clonk then, will have another look at this.