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Rear wheel clunk, wheel bearings are good - could it be a loose spacer tube? Your thoughts/any ideas on how to make the noise stop?

IGETAROUND

IGETAROUND

Well-known member
I have a 2018 F3-T that has developed a clunking sound from the rear axle. The closest sound it is similar to a worn CV joint on a front wheel drive vehicle. I suspected that the rear sprocket rubber cushions were worn so I replaced these, noise still persists. The metal spacer that is between the wheel bearings is easily moved side to side when the axle bolt is not in place. The wheel bearings are good, no looseness or grinding. If the wheel bearings are properly seated can the spacer tube easily move back and forth and side to side? If the bearings have moved from fully seated, how does this happen on a properly torqued rear axle? I would appreciate your thoughts and ideas on how to make this noise stop. The noise has just started within the last 500 miles. Bike has 88K miles currently.

Al in Kazoo
 
Al, those wheel bearings are hydraulically pressed into the hub. I doubt they’ve moved or come loose. Over time, under all of that axle torque, the spacer will compress a hair. The spacer would all tighten up once the axle is torqued. Ron is asking the main question. What triggers/causes it? I see you have a 2018 F3. Have you had your front sprocket recall performed?
 
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It's done 88K miles. I'd look at sideways play on the bearings, which I'd replace anyway as they've likely reached their lifetime limit. I'd also check the play of the belt on the pulleys. If the teeth on the belt have worn enough then a new belt and pulleys may be in order. I'd also check the front pulley and the play on the output shaft splines. Belt tension may be an issue. If you have a belt "tensioner" / harmonic damper, I'd check the bearings in that and it's associated spring pressure. After that I'd check rear disk run out to make sure it's not the disk thumping the brake pads. Other things to check would include wear on the shock absorber end bushings to make sure the top and bottom bushings are not loose. It might even be the rear swing arm bushings where it hinges in the frame.

You might want to describe what causes the clunk. Is it when accelerating, decelerating, going from one to the other, over bumps, continuous driving etc? You haven't given us much situational data to go by, which is why I've given you such a long list of probably wrong things to try. A bit of description of how you promote the sound would help us help you to diagnose it further.

Good luck, I hope this helps you figure it out. It's a mechanical device and unlike electrics deducing what's wrong is not likely to be intermittent in nature. At 88K miles, that's a good few miles until things start to wear out suspension wise.
 
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