Rear wheel play . . .

When I have my rear wheels off the ground and I put my hands on the tire at 9 and 3 clock positions I get a little bit of play on the side towards the front of the car.

I also notice some strange movement from the car while driving around corners at speeds above 20 mph.

Bearings, ball joint, both or something else?
 
I doubt the bearing play is messing with your cornering, but then I guess it depends on how much "a little bit of play" is. Probably not enough info there to make an accurate diagnosis.

If you are feeling something shift during cornering, you need to put the car up on jackstands and get out a big prybar and put pressure on all the suspension pieces in all directions and see what moves. That would include the lower ball joints, the upper strut mounts, the strut to upright interface (bolts may be loose), the rear toe links at each end, the front steering tie rod end, the other end of the tie rod at the rack, and all the bushings where the suspension is bolted to the body. Sway bar bushings too if applicable. I'm probably forgetting some, but you get the idea.

If all that stuff passes muster, then I'd worry about the wheel bearings.

Pete
 
"Strange movement" when cornering points to the toe links on one or both A-arms. Bearings worn enough to feel the play would probably be making enough noise to attract your attention.

But Pete has the right idea - look for play everywhere.
 
As an additional data point, when I had rear toe link problems, I never felt it in a corner. Instead, I felt it as a waggle in the rear when getting on and off the gas, like during gear changes. It was excessive play in the small ball joint at the hub end of the link.

Pete
 
That movement from the back end when cornering sounds like classic lower rear ball joint with a small amount of play in it. Hopefully someone is making replacements these days.
 
Hopefully someone is making replacements these days.
I saw a company on-line that rebuilds them for the early style rear suspension. No idea what's done, what they use to do it, or if they are any good. But can say they seem a little expensive to me for a rebuilt part, but if it is the only option then maybe not so bad? I'm not sure what options are available, although I vaguely recall a very old discussion on Xweb about a method to replace/fix them??? Anyone recall this?
Otherwise just letting you know about these (for the older models):
http://fcrcmachine.com/rare-parts-r...ice-1976-1977-fiat-x19-x-19-x-1-9-x1-9-10180/
 
Nice find Karl. I have no idea what the shipping would be, but the part price isn't that much more than the rebuilt ones. This is one of those few instances where I'd be tempted to only replace the worn one (if only one side had play) rather than the usual practice of doing both sides in pairs...maybe.

I've always thought this is another one of those items that could be replaced with some suitable part from another vehicle with a cleverly designed bracket or such to mount it. That is if new stock replacements ever become unavailable.
 
Agreed, there would seem to be enough ball joints out there with similar loading, VW lower ball joints in particular come to mind.
 
There are some wheel bearings that have a LOT of play in them, make sure this is not what you're experiencing.. I replaced my OE bearings with some aftermarket ones, and meh.. they have play. (you can find many threads on this issue in the forum).

What you could do is jack up the car, support it on stands and take a pry bar between the ball joint and knuckle and see if there's play. Do the same for the rear link. You should have no play.

The other issue is that your top mount might be real bad. How's the rubber looking up there?
 
I got my rear ball joints from Gruppo Bielstein

http://www.bielstein.com/fiat/x-1-9/fahrwerk/tragarmkopf-fur-querlenker-hinten-rechts

BTW, I've had new, "bad" wheel bearings cause this symptom

Nice find Karl. I have no idea what the shipping would be, but the part price isn't that much more than the rebuilt ones. This is one of those few instances where I'd be tempted to only replace the worn one (if only one side had play) rather than the usual practice of doing both sides in pairs...maybe.

I've always thought this is another one of those items that could be replaced with some suitable part from another vehicle with a cleverly designed bracket or such to mount it. That is if new stock replacements ever become unavailable.
 
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Wheel bearing "play" continues to be an on-going perceived problem. Wheel bearings used on the exxe are dual row angular contact bearings some "play" is NOT an issue. Once loaded, the "play" is taken up and bearing self-adjusting. If any overly enthusiastic individual decides to take the dual row angular contact bearing apart to "adjust" the "play" the risk of bearing failure is extreme.

Accept and respect the tolerances and what has been designed into the bearing.

Stability problems are often due to knackared suspension bushings,ball joints, outta whack alignment (most common source of this problem) bent wheel, out of round tires, tires with significantly different diameter on each wheel and more.

-Check these.


Bernice
 
some "play" is NOT an issue. Once loaded, the "play" is taken up and bearing self-adjusting. If any overly enthusiastic individual decides to take the dual row angular contact bearing apart to "adjust" the "play" the risk of bearing failure is extreme.

Actually, the play isn't "some" play - it's quite bad (I measured it, but I can't recall what it is at the moment). The OE bearings don't have any appreciable play. The issue I find is the taper wear that sets into the pads (new pads have poor contact with the rotor with these aftermarket bearings, I could see that the rotor wasn't running parallel with the bracket any longer, so it's not the bearings that I would be worrying about.

I've got about 10K kms on my new bearings that have play, but I intend to replace them with some NOS OE bearings that I have. I'll tear them down and do an analysis in our lab at work. I'm sure they'll look fine, but an analysis wouldn't be a bad idea.
 
I think the bearing 'play' largely being discussed here is with them installed/loaded. That would be different from "some "play" is NOT an issue" when they are not installed/loaded. Perhaps two different scenarios with different results, both being correct for the specific situation.
 
Yep, the play means that loaded, your rotors aren't running true within the caliper bracket. I don't really think that's a good scenario, but someone can chime in on that.

It's not a small amount either. (5spd bearings)
 
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