Morris Minor Owners Club

Yes no internal spacer at all. JUst put washer on, then nut, nip up, and put split pin in.

The bearings are Japanese, Nachi brand but think bearing numbers are standard across the brands.

sirrom wrote:I had to replace one bearing about 18 months ago to get through my road vehicle inspection (Warrant of Fitness probably like your MOT). My car already had tappered bearings so seeing I replaced the one I did the 4 in end. All I had to do its tap out the old cups and tap in the new cups, grease them and pack some grease and thats all.
The bearing numbers are E30303DJ (outer) and H-E30205J (inner). Think the 4 bearings and seals cost be about NZ$90 or fraction under that.
I think NZ had more Morries on the road in NZ than they did in Australia. We were still assembling the van/ute in 1974 after production stopped in the UK as they had plenty of CKD packs here.

Thankyou, most interesting and well worth knowing.

Interesting stuff, I notice that Timken list a set of conversion roller bearings with very similar numbers.

1962-1959 Minor: roller bearing conversion
Seal (inner) ......................................................... 471192[2]
Bearing Assy (inner) .......................................... 30205M[2] 2 1
Bearing Assy (outer) .............................................30303[2]

Shouldn't be difficult to find these over here.
Well, I have just checked and these look like the bearings that ESM supply for their new Marina based hubs.

Story so far..removed the bearings from the hub. Carefully measured the hub and spacer. Took 10 thou off the length of the spacer, repacked and refitted the bearings. The same play still there..Removed hub and fitted my second new set of bearings, but the result is the same..when it is all torqued up,if you rock the wheel you can see that the play is inside the ball race..I will try to purchase locally a set of bearings that are "C2" and see how they go before I give up and fit tappered rollers and throw away the spacer..If nothing else, it has made me see the need to build an adaptor for my hub puller to remove the inner of the inside bearing that gets stuck on the shaft. I am tired of having to remove the backing plate bolts each time I remove the bearing. Regards Andy..

I would go for C1 bearings..... Or indeed try the taper rollers.

Just a quick update on my wheelbearing voyage of discovery. I managed to source some bearings that are of C2 tolerance and fitted them today. I also found a small bearing puller that meant no more having to remove the brake backing plate to remove the inner of the inner bearing each time it has to come off, magic.. The new bearings are perfect and there is now no play, just smooth rotation..Thanks very much to bmcecosse and everyone else who replied. Andy

Well done Andy. So - a warning to all, some of the Minor suppliers seem to be selling C3 bearings which are not suitable for purpose...... All take note.

I informed the supplier who sent me the useless C3 bearing. I didn't get a reply so he was obviously not motifated.

I would be very pleased if anyone could let me know if tapers are the way to go. I have just fitted a new ball bearing and am befuddled as to whether I have it the right way round - it tightens but after a short drive the wobble is worse than before. Bloody thing fell apart when i drifted it in as did the old ones when I drifted them out - so I had no useful sequence of parts to observe. The only thing I could discern is perhaps that the lower lip of the outer race should face outwards (otherwise they wouldn't have come apart so easily).

Reading about thrust (not in the manual (BMC has about one sentence, Haynes copied and pasted same) or suppliers info which simply includes their logo!!!) has me picturing the mechanism under turning left and right and other loads but these all suggest that 'thrust' will come from both sides. I've looked at the pics and diagrams here but as the middle has come out of the outer bearing, I'm not sure which way it should go in - this must be sided too?

I'll have a rake over the web but I'm more convinced now that I should abandon the original set up. When we bought this car and found what was worn I thought, right, discs. But die-hards say that well set-up drums are sufficient. I wonder what for? I am supposed to be fitting a servo but can't get on with that while I mess about with wheel bearings. I know a servo doesn't improve stopping power, but for personal reasons I need an assist. For technical reasons, I now think I wasted money on new shoes, drums, cylinders, springs, etc etc. But that's a different story - any taper info gratefully received:)

There's a long running thread on 'which way round' for the bearings - I'm going to keep out of it this time round! I will say -don't use C3 bearings!! Seriously - the drums (if 8") will be fine with new parts - then consider the servo if you have a leg strength problem. Taper rollers would be the way forward for me if I ever had front hub problems.

If either of the bearings 'falls apart' when drifting them into the hub, the are definitely the wrong way round and must be removed and fitted the right way round. The fact that the bearing does not 'fall apart' is no guarantee that it is the right way round - if the fit is a bit slack in the hub, they could go in and still be the wrong way round. As has been discussed on another thread, both the bearings MUST be fitted the correct way round.

Please see the picture below:
[frame][/frame]
The 2 bearings at the top of the picture show the 'thrust' side - identified by the manufacturer's part numbers etc. on the outer race, and it shows the 'thick' side of the outer, and the 'thin' side of the inner race. This is the side of the bearing that goes into the hub.

Once the bearings are fitted, with the distance sleeve, you cannot see the thrust faces anymore, they are facing each other inside the hub. What you will see, when looking at the hub from either end is the view of the bearing shown in the lower part of the picture. Exactly what you see will depend on the manufacturer, and some use a more shrouded cage so that you cannot see the balls very much at all.

Re: Front Wheel Bearings
by sirrom » Wed May 09, 2012 9:44 am

I have got tappered bearings in my front hubs and I had the same in my last car and no problems. Other Morrie owners in NZ use them as well.
I recently changed them and still have the old boxes in my garage so could dig out the bearing numbers.
Sirrom - New Zealand

I would like to know where I can get tapered front wheel bearings. I just fitted a new bearing and it's no different. Apart from the graunching noise, no matter which way round it's fitted.

Any useful suggestions please

the sound of what I presumed to be a bad bearing worsened and migrated to the driver's side. So I stripped that side first assuming this bearing had also packed in. Captive in the drum was one of the nuts that had originally retained a back plate nut.

When fitting new drums/shoes etc I had noticed one nut missing, so replaced it with a spare. It had obviously been hidden somehow, then finally dislodged about the time I got MOT advice to change the nearside bearing.

After removal (drum not too scored) all went quiet - but the creak is back when I apply the brakes...

Well found ! I it's not one thing it's another...... Minors ! Don't you just luv em !!!

Wish I had found this thread BEFORE I fitted my front wheel bearings! As has been said, the Haynes manual says nothing about which way around they bearings go, and I hadn't heard of thrust-type ball bearings!

Needless to say, I assembled the first hub the wrong way around, then wondered why they were loose. another forum user (sirrom) directed me to a good bearing shop, who patiently explained my stupidity. It became obvious once I looked at them.

The shop supplied a new set as I thought I'd probably damage them getting them out - which I did. However, the new ones (correctly fitted) worked really well - nice and smooth and no play.

HOWEVER, today I fitted the other side, correctly, with the other set of bearings I originally got from a prominent UK supplier. And guess what - play! I'm very sure they are fitted correctly. Grrr.

So either the spacer has got longer (unlikely) or the hub has got narrower (unlikely!) or the bearings are poor quality.

Tomorrow I will order another set of nice Japanese-made ones from the local supplier and see if that fixes the problem. If it turns out that the prominent UK supplier has been selling crappy wheel bearings, I'll be unamused.



...Actually, come to think of it, my bicycle has (adjustable) thrust type ball bearings. Can't believe I'd forgotten that!

If the bearings are C3 type - they have too much tolerance.......