Wheel troubleshooting, have a tick.

[jeepmor]

Bought some used Enkei RPF1s with Yokohmama A0D8s with lots of tread. I now have a tick when I speed up and slow down, mostly straight accel/decel, not so much in corners. I've checked the torque, contact surfaces, changed lugs as the stock ones just didn't have as good of contact. Tick still there.

Wheel has been off and corner inspected several times, can't find anything obvious. Cleaned all mating surfaces of lugs and brake calipers to wheel. Nothing found. Had some particles at first, now not so much. Thought they might be impeding mating and causing slight movement. But still no dice. Even used a stainless wire brush in wheel lug surfaces in case any particles were torqued in and causing issues. Inspecting surfaces with my fingers and they felt clean.

I recently hit a bump that made me hit the bumpstops, think I cratered a bushing and am hearing it hit metal to metal, maybe. Happens on both hard acceleration and deceleration, but sounds like aluminum, not steel.

Sound reminds me of my mountain bike days. I could never get my aluminum cranks tight enough on the spindle that they wouldn't make a little tick when cranking hard. The tick I'm encountering is identical. Just a tick sound, not a clunk.

Any thoughts appreciated.

My next move is to put my stock wheel with my winter tire setup back on that corner and check it out before I call a shop and start digging.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by jeepmor

Sound reminds me of my mountain bike days. I could never get my aluminum cranks tight enough on the spindle that they wouldn't make a little tick when cranking hard. The tick I'm encountering is identical. Just a tick sound, not a clunk.

I'd gamble it is in fact identical and it's time to replace the axle nut. Giving it a good torquing may be a temporary solution but if you want it gone for a few years buy a new nut. My originals lasted me ~3.5-4 years, I expect I'll have to replace them again before this decade is through, lather, rinse, repeat.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums//show...0&postcount=10
http://www.ft86club.com/forums//showthread.php?t=92971
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66688
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41762
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...94#post2299994
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2389950

[jeepmor]

Thank you.

I've been thinking that the whole time, but have been chasing the wheel change as that is exactly when it happened. I'm going to look up the spec on that fastener, shouldn't be hard to put a 5 or 8 grade appropriate nut on there that is not OEM and better. Seems like a cheap supplier issue to go away from OEM on.

[jeepmor]

While I'm at it, anyone know of an alternative axle nut that's not Toyota steel soft? Just ordered a socket and two OEM nuts from Amazon, but wondering if anyone has found and OEM alternative to the axle nuts. I'm not finding anything with a quick look, but I'm also not finding the thread specs easily to search otherwise. Any help appreciated, if I find a better widget, I'll share once it proves itself to be, well, better.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by jeepmor

While I'm at it, anyone know of an alternative axle nut that's not Toyota steel soft? Just ordered a socket and two OEM nuts from Amazon, but wondering if anyone has found and OEM alternative to the axle nuts. I'm not finding anything with a quick look, but I'm also not finding the thread specs easily to search otherwise. Any help appreciated, if I find a better widget, I'll share once it proves itself to be, well, better.

They've been using the exact same on Subaru's for over 10 years now, to my knowledge there is no alternative.

They're cheap, it's a quick fix, and I believe the softness is a desired engineering trait to allow it to 'lock down' for a certain amount of time. I'd be nervous about a stronger material coming loose and having to be re-torqued more frequently, potentially it'd be even noisier, or noisier more often. idk just hypothesizing.

[guybo]

Have you checked the treads of your tires for a nail or rock? I hear a tick that goes with the speed and I'm thinking something stuck in the tire.

[wparsons]

IMO, stay with the OEM nuts. They're designed for the purpose. If they were really a weak link, the aftermarket companies would be all over it since it's a simple part to make.

[jeepmor]

Replaced OEM nut and issue remains. Used stock replacement and some loctite to 150 ft lbs. Its annoying, but it is not a safety issue.

Been a few months now, stays about the same, not getting worse or changing, just ticking.

[venturaII]

Damaged wheel bearing? You said you hit a very big bump not long after installing the wheels... Was the ticking present between those two events? And what's the specs on the RPF1s?