Morris Minor Owners Club

i have replaced the kingpin, with a new old stock one, new trunnions and new bearings in the hub, yes they are the right way round,

did the same with the other leg

torqued up the bearing nut to 55 on one side no problem, wheel spins round nice no tightness
did the other side, and i can not get the nut torqed up to the same,

Is the side that refuses to torque up seizing the bearing rotation? If so suspect bearing spacer.

hi yes it is, but this is the 2nd hub i have tried, but that does sound a feasible cause

It's also not unknown to get a faulty new wheel bearing out of the box. Usually side play between inner and outer race cages. Balance bearing on three fingers placed though centre and spin the bearing. Any hint of sticking, it's goosed.

After that it's a micrometer and vernier caliper and measure everything both sides...Bearing width and spacer length. Check spacer for burrs where it contact the bearings.

thanks for the info, but also this was another complete bearing set

torqued to 55 is over specification. I cannot find my reference at the moment but memory says 40 is the correct figure. Not that lowering the figure would make much difference. Found it 'front hub nut 35-40
lb ft'.

haynes manual says between 55 and 65 lb torque

Well, the workshop manual says '35-40 lbs ft. i know which one I would
believe!

thank you willie, will redo the wekend

Looks like you will need to increase the width of the spacer (with shims - or use thicker spacer) until it tightens up without jamming. I can't see that the stub axle could have any effect on this - but you could do a quick trial assembly of the new parts on one of the old stub axles - to see if it tightens up there ok without gripping the hub.

I had the same problem with front bearings, the make was rollstar or something, bought from esm. I fitted some s/hand hubs complete with good bearings in the end. Fitted the original hubs ( with the tight bearings) to some other uprights recently, and now they seem ok, not sure why/how!

the same bearing was worse from the same source

Hit and miss nowadays, what happened to good ol' ransome and marple bearings.