Morris Minor Owners Club

Hello,

On my last MOT it was stated that there was play On the front drivers and passengers side wheels,drivers side has been replaced but the play still remains,I noticed there is a ferrel that slides onto the stub axle would it have any bearing on the problem? or can i remmove it which may let the bearingslide in properly? any ideas how I can solve this problem

Thanks

Ernie

What's a ferrel? Can you post a photo of the bit you mean? I'm guessing you mean the ring the oil seal runs on and the inner race butts up against - that needs to be present and unworn and it shouldn't be free to move. Nice pun BTW!

Play in the hubs is usually an indicator of worn bearings.

Unless it has disc brakes - and a spacer of some kind has been used between the bearing and the stub axle ? Other possibility is worn hub housing - if the old bearings have been rocking about inside the housing.

Sorry the ferrel is the "Bearing distance piece" as referred to in the haynes Morris Minor manual,

Regards

Ernie

The distance piece should be trapped between the two bearings.

As BMC says the bearings should be a tight fit in the hub.

The hub nut on the front wheels should be tighted to 40 ft lbs. If that has been done and there is still play then the bearing dimensions are wrong
or,as suggested, the hub itself is outside specification.

And that's why the distance piece is in there - if it is missing - the bearings will lock up solid when you tighten the nut!

Hi, can I join in the debate, I have a 1957 2 door that is used in competition on the nation road rally championship, I replaced the front wheel bearings 2 events ago (April) the new bearings fitted as per manual but did not seem to completely fix the problem. now approx 1000 miles later there is definite play in one and slight in the other. could the problem we both have defective parts fitted?
I am inerested in talking to anybody that has fitted taper roller bearings to a drum braked Morris successfully. Some of you I might have mentioned this to at the 60th rally last weekend.

Help....

Julian

You did indeed - good to see you made it here, then, welcome

The front wheel bearings should be manufactured to extremely tight
tolerances since there is no adjustment provided for them. The hub nut
must be done up to the the 40 ft lbs mark, there should be no 'slacken off the nut if the hubs are tight' malarky. If the problem is too much play with new bearings then either the bearings are not within specification or the hub itself, or the spacer, have suffered over the years. That should become apparent when fitting the new races. If you manage to fit the taper roller type you will not regret it. Smooth as silk,
totally quiet, and instantly adjustable when play develops. (mine came
with the disc brake kit)! Good luck

could the problem we both have defective parts fitted?

sadly, yes! Defective new parts are becoming 'normal' as time goes on. I've not heard of problems with wheel bearings before but anything is possible these days.

I can't completely remember how front hubs go together (although I've done a few, but none recently). Would there be a possibility to get another spacer (distance piece) and see if taking a few thou off it fixes the problem? This should be done on a lathe to get it square as filing will not be good enough and any out of square would be a bad thing.
[Hopefully someone will shoot this down if it's a bad idea]