Rear wheel bearing play?

[AngeloEvs]

I don't think my van has ever failed an MOT but for the last three I have the same advisory 'slight bearing play' on both rear wheels. Is it worth replacing them or just wait until the play becomes excessive?

It's covered about 10000 miles over the past three years and the play seems to be pretty much the same.

[R0B]

There is by design a bit of play. The problem is a lot of MOT places do not know this.

[AngeloEvs]

Cheers Rob, having read Covkids fight getting the rear drums off his van, I didn't want to open a can of worms unecessarily.

[carthago ian]

My camper failed its test on rear wheel bearing play , so what is bearing play ? the only way to find out was to jack the rear of the camper up &
rock the wheel between 12 & 3 6 & 9 one side was fine, same movement all round .. The other side was bad heaps of play between 12 & 3 ..

For the time it takes to jack the camper up its worth it simply for the peace of mind , I never had a problem taking off the nut ,sure it was tight but
no big deal ,sorted the bearing out got a re test & passed

[Aidan]

give it a good run so bearing are hot and get tester to check them when you arrive, they are C3 clearance bearings designed to be correct when hot

[AngeloEvs]

I never knew that, thanks......

[ToolkiT73]

There is by design a bit of play. The problem is a lot of MOT places do not know this.

How much play is normal?
I replaced my nearside driveshaft and bearing just over a year ago (using these bearings https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-CAMPER-TR ... 0682982040) and it now failed the MOT due to (amongst other things) play on the rear wheel.. it does seem to have more play on that side indeed.. 
Can the bearings be shot already?? I did very low mileage this year (you all can guess why)..
I still have a spare set for the other side (the one that currently does not have play but presumably is on the original set so ordered as a precaution), and I noticed that there is a tiny bit of movement in the outer bearing, but none in the inner.. this is a never been used set.. does that mean they are poor quality (Febi branded) or like somebody mentioned they are designed to be the right amount of play when hot?

Besides replacing the bearings again, I assume there is no adjustments that can be made to tighten things up?

 

[Aidan]

slight play in 6 and 12 position is normal, noticeable play at 9 and 3 position isn't
the inner bearing is an annular ball bearing C3 grind, outer bearing is a flat roller bearing and will have noticeable play but once weight of vehicle is on it then it is fine
sometimes it's the bearing housing that is worn, use loctite 638 bearing fit to fix in the inner bearing, let the glue set before adding fresh grease
there's no adjustment possible there are no taper bearings to adjust unlike the front on 2wd
Most old school MOT tetsters know about this type of set up, but younger ones will just be black and white fail/pass

originally VW used SKF inner and Torrington/Timken outers but FAG and INA were also oem suppliers, I think the febi kits have SKF and INA in them these days, the inner is a standard bearing so getting SKF is easy, the outer is a bit of a special as it is the thickness of the next diameter up standard bearing but there seem to be plenty of choice about at the moment
GSF's own brand chinese bearings from a few years ago were known to be about as hard as chocolate

[hubcap61]

I replaced my front and rear wheel bearings last week in preparation for next weeks MOT.
I used B&B Component parts off Ebay.
Febi Bilstein bearings. Parts arrived next day.
Had a bit more that normal play in rear and a quiet rumble from front.
All good now.
 

[ToolkiT73]

I replaced my front and rear wheel bearings last week in preparation for next weeks MOT.
I used B&B Component parts off Ebay.
Febi Bilstein bearings. Parts arrived next day.
Had a bit more that normal play in rear and a quiet rumble from front.
All good now.

Those are the ones I have too.. and the play is indeed in the 6-12 direction not in the 9-3 one.. 
So I guess it could be normal..

My plan is to have a word with the garage that is familiar with VW transporters and see what they think..