Help with problem on my corolla? please

[c0dy]

Hey, i wasnt sure where to post this, and noone on any other the other sites I go to knows anything about cars... I have a 96 corolla (college car) and the other day it started making a dragging sound, turns out its my rotor rubbing against my caliper. i couldnt find anything loose, and making sure that my wheel was bolted on tight i checked to see if it would move side to side. it does =\ it takes the disc along with it (its about an inch of play, but thats enough to make the disc scrape the caliper). what would be loose that would let this happen? and how would i get to where i need to be to tighthen it? With the wheel off I couldnt see any bolts or anything, it may be behind the disc where I need to go but it started raining last night when i was checking it out. does anyone have any suggestions? I cant even drive it today its so bad =\ I want to avoid taking it a mechanic because i start college in a little over a month and need all the money i have saved, any help is greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Cody

 

[c0dy]

noone? =\

 

[99BlackSVTvenom]

take the wheel off and while the front of the car is lifted give it some gas and have somebody watch the brake and see if they can spot anything.

 

[c0dy]

i did, its the caliper scratching the rotor because the rotor is moving freely and leans into the caliper. i cant figure out how to tighten it up, it also means that when the tires on and all the legs are tight, theres still a little bit of play from left to right (looking directly at the tread).

OT i like your car =)

 

[99BlackSVTvenom]

thank you for the compliment and you might want to check your wheel bearing it maybe shot if there is wheel play. but those rotors i believe are knock off rotors meaning there held on by the wheel when you tighten the wheel it tightens the rotor if i could actually see it i could be more help but i just have a hard time understanding problems in writing.

 

[VirtualSVT]

yeah is this a rotor with the bearing in it with packed grease or does it ride on a sealed unit like our cars? If its the kind like fox mustangs then the bearings are prolly shot.

can you shake the wheel and have a lot of unusual play?

Matt

 

[WyoTechMSA]

Wheel bearing is shot.

 

[c0dy]

its on a sealed unit, the rotor just sits in the assembly (what you referred to as knock of). general concensus is that its the wheel bearing... guess i'll bring it to the shop then because ive never attempted to change that... thank you all, i appreciate it : )

 

[VirtualSVT]

It should just bolt on from the back. Check it out thoroughly first. Hit it up with a lot of brake cleaner and look. It might be that easy.

Matt

 

[99BlackSVTvenom]

yeah if its the bearing take it to a shop unless you got a torch or press because bearing have a lovely way of welding themselves in there once they go bad.

 

[c0dy]

its the cv joint (which i just had replaced in december). that cracked and was apparantly barely being held together, and has since damaged a few other parts and is costing me about $150 shy of what i had in the bank to cover college (that i havent already paid) this quarter. im trying to look at this on the bright and im having a hard time figuring out how. i really wish this had happened a couple months ago when i had time to let my savings recover. i leave for CT in a week for two weeks. altogether people owe me $600 but that wasnt going to be paid back for a while. funny how lifes little surprizes get to you.... keep smiling

on a side note, other than the stafford loan, does anyone have any suggestions for loans for college? This quarter im being charged with OOS residency and its going to be pretty harsh and stafford loan has a max of a lot less than what i need. financial aid is helping but theres still uncovered costs, can anyone recommend anything? (again, thanks for all of your help)

 

[c0dy]

End result:
Hub Repair Kit - 219.46
Bearing Set - 49.96
Drive Axle - 124.96
($12 shop supplies)
labor:
Wheel bearing Remove & Replace - 3 hr 254.85
sub total - 663.92
(they took off 10% because I mentioned it was money saved for college)
sub total - 598.99
tax 52.71
total $651.70
better than the estimate they gave me, but still a big chunk of change that was saved for college. Im going to work for my sister doing landscaping if i can while im on vacation in CT. hopefully everything'll work out and i'll still be able to start this quarter. How is this as far as pricing goes? The labor isnt as bad as i thought it would be, and the discount helps further, the guys were really pleasent to work with (eastside auto/tire in kirkland)

 

[WyoTechMSA]

250 bucks for 3 hours?

 

[c0dy]

apperantly, and im at their mercy because its raining out (and has been for the past week, and looks like it will keep doing so) and i have a very little part of my tool selection here. =\ this just makes me really mad because i just had my axle replaced a few months ago :fm: ah well... think happy thoughts...

 

[Fn'sh!t^]

250 bucks for 3 hours?

Sounds about the going rate for dealership labor. What about $80 an hour??
Independent shops are usually abit cheaper.