Morris Minor Owners Club

I have just discovered a slight puzzle on my 1964 2 door saloon. Whilst renewing front wheel cylinders & shoes , I decided to regrease the wheel bearings . They are a pair of caged roller bearings with a spacer between . My memory from the 70's/ 80's is of taper roller bearings & no spacer. The hub is marked ATA 4127. The bearings are SKF 73035 outer & SKF 73033 inner. Was this as per original or are these later or indeed modified ? Does anyone know ?

Taper roller bearings always have a spacer between the two halves. I don't think Minors had taper bearings as standard - but i will have a look tomorrow.

Thanks bmc, in fact I gave an incorrect description of the bearings on the car , they are caged BALL bearings. I do not remember any spacer on previous cars ( about the same year as this one ) taper rollers in the past I have tightened whilst turning the wheel until slight resistance is felt, then backing off to the next hole in the castle nut. A spacer could prevent tapers having the correct free play but in fact would be desirable if using ball bearings. I await further info. Many Thanks.

Taper rollers have a spacer between precisely so the clearance can be set accurately - Minis have them front and rear. The bearings are tightened up very tightly to grip the spacer between the inner races of the two halves. If the bearing is then too loose the spacer is thinned down slightly - if it's too tight a thicker spacer is needed ! I am pretty sure the Minor ball races also have a spacer between - to stop the bearings being overtightened. Again you are tightening the inner races against the spacer, but in the case of the ball bearings the outer races have some freedom to move, so the thickness of the spacer is not critical - however if it was not there tightening the nut would cause the bearings to move towrads each other until the clearance ran out, and then they would be distorted and would rapidly fail!

are a pair of caged roller [BALL] bearings with a spacer between .

sounds right to me.

Yes, there are no taper bearings on the standard Minor front hubs and the
spacer is vital as it ensures that the inner rings of the bearings are clamped
to the stub axle when the nut is tightened up securely. This removes the
possiblility of the inner rings wearing away the stub axle. The nut should be
done up tight, it is not correct to loosen it in order to free the wheel up,
i.e. if you fit a new wheel bearing set and the wheel is too tight then either
the bearings are not made to the correct parameters or someone has messed
with the spacer! Each bearing should have the THRUST side facing the spacer.

Never noticed this 'thrust' thing - is it engraved on the bearing cage ?

I seem to remember reading somewhere that it was possible to get a set of front taper bearings now for Minor. Does anyone have any info on this ?
Ian.

Difficult now to get bearings in 'imperial' sizes - metric would be no problem - but they won't fit! I have never had any problems with wheel bearings - even when (probably unwisely) using spacers in the past to increase the track - and wider tyres and wheels.

Thanks all, I think it was more a memory lapse than a problem. My manual does show the spacer . Probably remembering a previous car ( Hillman Avenger )

BMC.... the bearings are usually marked 'thrust' on the outer rim, if not it is
usually the side which has the bearing number etched on it.

Thanks Willie - can't say I have stripped Minor hubs for at least 40 years - if even then ! Does it tell/warn you about this in the workshop manual ?

bmcecosse wrote:Taper roller bearings always have a spacer between the two halves. I don't think Minors had taper bearings as standard - but i will have a look tomorrow.

The spacer isn't used if fitting tapered roller bearings to the Minor front hubs.

I haven't worked on Mini hubs but all the cars I know don't use a spacer between tapered bearings. The bearing preload is adjusted by feel as "crossword" states.

BMC, yes, it's all in the workshop manual. Wish they were taper bearings, a
lot more roller contact!

Taper roller bearings without a central spacer sound decidedly dodgey to me ! Glad my cars are not like that!

SCOTT, must disagree with you re the front hub nuts. The workshop manual
gives a torque figure of 35 to 40lb.ft and states 'and tighten the hub nut'.
If the nut was meant to be slackened off as some sort of adjustment it would
most definitely make a point of describing this action.

I think something is being lost in the English/Australian translation here .

This is a tapered roller bearing:

These do not use a spacer between them. These are a popular fitment as they allow the bearings to be "adjusted".


This is a roller bearing that's used in the Morris Minor from the factory:

These use the spacer between them & it torqued up as per Willie's post & cannot be "adjusted".

bmcecosse wrote:Taper roller bearings without a central spacer sound decidedly dodgey to me ! Glad my cars are not like that!

There's not a lot of point having taper roller bearings with a spacer , unless youre prepared to modify the spacer ( add/subtract shims ) to get the right clearance.

keep it original

SCOTT,yes, I thought you were discussing the Minor ball bearings, wanted
to avoid members loosening their standard Minor bearings and thinking that
it was 'as designed'.