Same here... Same enige and gearbox as my 2cv, but much faster.. the 2cv accelerates faster though

I wonder if it's cos an Ami is more "Aerodynamic" than a 2CV?
Although the 2CV is [maybe?] somewhat lighter .....which could aid acceleration,up to a certain speed?
Although did'nt the Ami [and Dyane] have a higher top gear than the standard 2CV gearbox?

T.

My Ami has it's original gearbox, and I'm sure the gearing gives it longer legs. I wouldn't mind betting it's more aerodynamic though, but I have little understanding of that kind of thing. (I've recently built two model aircraft, neither of which seem to have any inclination towards actually flying)

On the subject of the original question, on an empty stretch of road, try weaving from side to side and see if the noise gets better and worse.

Oddly I had a front wheel bearing go on a non-A-series and it turned out the bearing made more noise without weight on it.
ie It made more noise when turning left but it turned out to be the left hand bearing that had gone.

Thanks All - I will try out the various ideas....

The car has more to give, no doubt....and i'm not too worried about pushing the engine - it's well oiled and doesn't get too hot....it's more the worry that something is going to fail at speed...or fall off cos of the vibration....it's not that bad, but i am quite a cautious person, so the howling tells me something's wrong, i'm not going to push my luck and take the car even faster - though i suspect the howling may even go away OVER a certain speed....

how long should an experienced A-Series mechanic take to replace a front wheel bearing???

xxxxxx

The right tool is half the job (time) but about less than 1 hour

Thanks Viking - when i speak to whoever, I'll mention the special tool so they 'know I know'

By-the-way; do you knwo what Russ means when he says 'turned arms' - on his Ami he talks about turning the arms - what on earth does that mean????

Correcting the angle of the dangle for lowering I think. I think the kingpins/steering components are put under strain when lowered without this modification... but the people who actually know will be along shortly!

The arm is cut and re-welded at the hub end.*edit* maybe not! Heres a pic from Russ's thread, there are probably more pics on here but this is the first I can find:

http://www.international2cvfriends.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1831&start=120 (Scroll down a bit).

Well maybe, if your mec doesn't have the tools, it can take hours to do. Remember the right kilo's min. 35 kg, not possible without the correct tool.
Another thing, Ami's are using bigger diameter wheel bearings than 2cv. If you buy and fit reproduction bearings in particular in the rear drums, they have a very bad happy of separating next time the drums are removed (service or repair) SKF won't do this but relativily more expensive. When separating the whole job need doing again, maybe at your cost (man hours)

yes to correct the castor angle

castor is responsible for the self centering of the front wheels and affects how the steering feels , due to its setup the 2cv suspension increases castor when there is more load on it, which is thought to be a safety feature you dont want twitchy steering at speed 4 up with all the camping gear.

lowering the suspension has a similar effect and to counteract it the king pin eye is cut from the arm, rotated so its at its proper angle and re welded and so light steering is resumed...technically illegal as far as VOSA are concerned as welding of steering components is not allowed, suppose you could argue its not a steering component..

Spanners, the law please

@Willami
the 2cvgb handbook has the invoicing times that Citroen cherged for various common maitanance tasks, front bearings were invoiced at 1.7 hours, nothing listed for rears but replacement and ajustment of the drum was 1 hour

Sean