I don't check the in-out play.

it's up-down play, at the tire.  'up to' 1/8 inch is OK or acceptible if
there are no other symptoms.

what happens is miles just very high ..150K + ....you are suspecious of
the RR whl. bearings..
( and usually, the right side wears more, but not always. )

they're due I'd say. Get German bearings if you can and do a very
careful job. I've probably done rear wheel brgs on vanagons 20 times, or
more.  They  can be a little tricky .

S.

On 1/19/2014 8:10 AM, Jim Felder wrote:
> Of all the Vanagon things I have done, here is one I have not. On the road,
> at any speed, if I turn the car to the left so as to put the force on the
> right side, I hear a rum-rum-rum sound that matches the rotational speed of
> the car. Suspecting races that were not fully seated on the front wheels
> (like all low frequency sounds, it's hard to get a location on this by
> listening) after a recent replacement, I jacked up the front and checked
> the bearings. They don't move and any noise I hear I believe is the slight
> drag of the pads and on the rotors.
>
> I jacked up the rear and this is what I found: there is not any noticeable
> wobble on eaither of the rear wheels, but I can pull them in and out with a
> noticeable clunk and about 1/16 of free play, maybe a hair more.
>
> Does that signal replacement time, or is there more I could be doing to
> check the bearings? The car doesn't make any other unusual sounds form the
> drive train when going straight down the road.
>
> Jim
>