Morris Minor Owners Club

After literally minetes of preparation Mirium has managed to fail her MOT.

After all the Blah Blah Blah ... The long and short of it is that in addition to a load of bushes both the front wheel bearings need replaceing.

Section K7 of the workshop manual does not really seem to cover it. At least not to my satisfaction. What it doesn't seem to tell me is how to get the bearings out of the hub. Is this an simple "Drift with a Bit of broom handle" job or is strong swearing required ? Can I get the new bearings in easily? If I don't use a hub puller it it possible to get a bearing or seal off by damaging the bearing ?

The parts I THINK I need for this are ..

SUS 166 "Front Wheel Bearing kit" x 2
SUS 165 "Hub Oil Seal" x 2

Can anyone think of anything extra that I might need ? Is there anything that could jump up and bite me on the bum ?

The 'front wheel bearing kit' should consist of two bearings
AND INCLUDE the oil seal! Check with your supplier,so that you do
not order more than you need. dismantling is pretty straight
forward and when the hub unit is off you will see that there
are two grooves which enable you to knock out the bearing
outer rings with a drift and a hammer. Please remember that
the hub nut has to be done up TIGHT...it is NOT adjustable by
leaving it loose. the part number I have for the kit which
includes the oil seal is SUS166 you need a kit for each side!
You may ruin the original split pins so a new pair would be
useful.

Now it starts to get wierd. My Father in Law swears he changed the wheel bearings in January and I've got the reciept for the parts. I will tighten them up and pack them with grease and see what happens. Do moggies tend to be looser around there than modern cars ?

Willie wrote:The 'front wheel bearing kit' should consist of two bearings
AND INCLUDE the oil seal! Check with your supplier,so that you do
not order more than you need. dismantling is pretty straight
forward and when the hub unit is off you will see that there
are two grooves which enable you to knock out the bearing
outer rings with a drift and a hammer. Please remember that
the hub nut has to be done up TIGHT...it is NOT adjustable by
leaving it loose. the part number I have for the kit which
includes the oil seal is SUS166 you need a kit for each side!
You may ruin the original split pins so a new pair would be
useful.

jack the car just off the ground and rock the wheel around.
If it's the bearings you will feel it has some slack.

If it's loose, then check the nut it torqued up correctly.
The nut shouldn't come loose anyway as it is meant to have a split pin.

And bear in mind that garages have a tendency to make stuff up...
Or write down the actual fault incorrectly

If you do have to change them make a note of which way the bearings are fitted when removing them. There is a "thrust" side which is usually marked on the outer race. If not I think the type markings are on the thrust side. If memory serves correctly, the thrust faces towards the spacer (centre of the hub) on each bearing. But get this confirmed first before fitting I might be wrong.
Tap them into the hub utilising the outer race preferably with a bit of pipe or socket of the correct diameter. Take your time and don't use too much force.

If you do have to replace them, remember that you dont nessecarily need to buy full kits, if only one bearing is gone out of the two, and your oil-seals are in good condition (no rips/tears, and still flexible), then phone up your local bearing supplier, and read off the numbers printed on the thrust side ... you might end up only shelling out a fiver instead of the £15 or £20 you may pay for a full kit.

PS: Yes, the thrust side DOES definitely face the spacer.

I'm thinking, if one bearing has gone so has the other, or it soon will be! Renew both.

if one bearing has gone so has the other, or it soon will be

Yeah, more than likely.

Do you think that the same should be true of the other side, ie if you replace the bearings on one side, are you as well to change the other side at the same time?

Well there's no telling if the other side has been recently replaced or not, if it's a recently aquired car, so I'd decide by the amount of play/noise!

Well Yes you are totally correct .. The new bearings had been fitted and yes they were the wrong way round. My father in law does not have the internet so I feel safe to tell you that I won't tell him and I'll say that tightening them up and repacking with grease did the buisness.

57traveller wrote:If you do have to change them make a note of which way the bearings are fitted when removing them. There is a "thrust" side which is usually marked on the outer race. If not I think the type markings are on the thrust side. If memory serves correctly, the thrust faces towards the spacer (centre of the hub) on each bearing. But get this confirmed first before fitting I might be wrong.
Tap them into the hub utilising the outer race preferably with a bit of pipe or socket of the correct diameter. Take your time and don't use too much force.

Hopefully all's well now Justin.
Did you confirm the correct sides for the thrust from another source? Only because I wasn't 100% certain.

57traveller wrote:Hopefully all's well now Justin.
Did you confirm the correct sides for the thrust from another source? Only because I wasn't 100% certain.

Yes in the BL workshop manual it says the thrust side faces the spacer and that if it has no thrust markings then the thrust side is the side with the bearing details.