I got the new hub and rotor setup put on today. What I found still has me baffled a few hours later. The rotor hub assembly is pressed together and held as a unit from the pressure of the lug studs being pressed through the two. Somehow my rotor had managed to become loose from the hub enough and began to oval out the holes in the rotor. The lug studs all took 4-5 good hits from a mini-sledge to get out, so they weren't bad loose at the hub. I has expecting to see some corrosion somewhere that would have aloud the play to begin but everything looked normal. The bearings felt tight when checking them on the truck but did sound gritty when spinning them off the truck.
From the thickness of the old rotor, I'm guessing the a new one (and maybe hub also) was put on at some point by the owner previous to my dad and me owning it. Maybe they weren't pressed together tight enough?
When I used to hit potholes and expansion joints on the highway, it always felt like loose ball joint but everything would feel tight when I looked underneath. Anyway, gonna go ahead do the other side maybe tomorrow or at some point soon.

 

just thinking.....If the axle nut hadn't been torqued right would that cause it?

 

Absolutely

 

I will guess the other side wasn't torqued right either if that is what the issue was. Haven't had any obvious symptoms like the driver side, but gonna pull the wheel and look closer tomorrow. Thanks

Think I'll put my torque wrench on it and see what it says.

 

Axle nut has nothing to do with the rotor being loose. My guess, either the studs were not seated properly, or they bottomed out prematurely leaving rotor barely tight, and over time the rotor worked itself loose.

 

Do you think the rotor working loose would be enough to cause a vibration/ loose wheel feeling or do you think my wheel bearing could have been bad even though I couldn't feel slop in it when checking at the tire with it jacked up? Or maybe a combination of the two? I'm having a hard time visualizing how the rotor could work loose from the hub. Isn't everything sandwiched tight with the lugs from the wheel being on? I'm new to this kind of setup as you can tell.

Gonna check size of old lug studs to new ones and see how they match up.

 

Im not to sure on threw setup as I never worked on a 99 and down truck. But the axle nut only has an effect on the bearing

 

How where the studs put in? Where they the old ones or new? I just put a new bearing//hub and rotor on mine two weeks ago, I had to use a hydraulic press to install the studs(new). After i pressed them i made sure the studs where bottomed out. Also what brand hub/bearing did you get?

 

The NEW ones I installed with a wheel stud installer tool that has a bearing setup on it and kept the threads on the studs lubed good, and used a cross pattern when tightening them up each a little at a time. They went in fine and all where bottomed out. I didn't see how they could have been any tighter. No lube got down around where the rotor and hub all mate up.

I got the Timken hubs and the new rotor I don't remember who they are cause I bought them a while ago and had them unboxed.