My car was in the shop having the front bumper resprayed after someone scraped a lumber cart across it at Home Depot a couple of weeks ago. While there, I asked the shop owner (who takes care of a dozen cars for me) to take a look at the driver's side rear wheel bearing which had been replaced a few months ago, but which was squealing again. I picked the car up on Thursday and headed to the freeway to run downtown to pick up something for a customer. As I accelerated up the on ramp I felt a loss of control in the steering that unnerved me. I reasoned that maybe there was some oil on the ramp or that maybe I imagined it. Once on the freeway, I accelerated from 50mph to 65mph, and the more I pressed the gas the scarier it got. The front end would veer left while it felt like the rear was wrapping around on the right, positively frightening. I limped downtown at 45mph, picked up what I needed and limped home. I called my mechanic, reported what happened, and told him I'd bring the car back in the morning.

I dropped it off Friday, and picked it up this afternoon. First, I am happy to report that all is back to normal. When I asked what happened and how it could affect the handling so severely, he told me that in pressing in the bearing the hub was damaged and left the wheel to wobble terribly. With power to the rear wheels, it exaggerated the problem upon acceleration.

I recall reading a post about a year ago from someone with an XK8 or XKR that had wild swings in the handling of his car, and I would bet he had a similar problem. It was positively frightening as there was momentary loss of control of the car until the power to the rear wheels was below 50mph.

Anyone with similar sensations and no idea of what's causing it, take a look at rear hub/rear bearings and you may find your answer.

Whew!

 

I just found my left rear wheel to be wiggling around in the hug a bit. You can see the UJ move relative to the hub! There is no bearing noise whatsoever though, and that's leading me to unfortunate possibility that the hub is somehow damaged. No sign of cracks on the outside though.

Does anyone have a used spindle hub assembly (with or without the axle) handy and willing to sell?