Morris Minor Owners Club

hi everyone
im having a bit of trouble with my moggy front hub, ive changed the bearings, packed it full of grease properly and reassembled, tightened the hub nut and put with pin through (no play in the hub after) untill i road tested it and the wheel and brakes shuddering. once i got back i jacked it up and their was loads of play in the wheel. tried to tighten the nut with no luck, so did the same with another decent hub with new bearings to only have the same outcome. could it be a worn stub axle or possible the grease in using??

Long thread on this recently. Common view seemed to be that bearings must go in a certain way round - not just 'opposing' as I had advised. Search back for the post.

The front bearings MUST be fitted the right way round - it is not just a 'common view'!

The general layout of the hub and bearings is shown below:
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The picture below shows the two sides of each bearing:

The bearings on the top row show the 'thrust' face, with the manufacturer's details clearly visible on the outer race, which must face inwards, and so not be visible once fitted.

The bearings on the bottom row are the side that you will see when looking in at the end of the hub - the key thing to check is that looking in from the outside, the thickness of the outer race is less than the inner - if not the bearing is the wrong way round!

There are many different styles of cage, from the closed type in the picture, to open steel or plastic.
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I'm not going to re-open the discussion - and that's a great diagram Richard, but I stand by my original view......

but I stand by my original view

Which is completely wrong and very dangerous - please do not repeat it.

If it was so 'dangerous' then surely the bearings would be marked which way round they must be fitted?

im 100% sure that the bearings are the right way round

With all the stramash about these bearings - and a few have hit problems recently - if I ever have any reason to fit new ones I will go for the taper roller alternative. I'm sure they are mentioned somewhere in the past threads.

I don't see what all the fuss is about with these bearings.
My experience, bearing gone, go to motor factors, get them to get a new one, works perfect.
I still have the box if anyone wants a part number or something??
Is this because mainstream stockists don't supply the right ones?

Some were supplying C3 bearings with too much clearance......

Ah..
Something to bear in mind for the future..

If it was so 'dangerous' then surely the bearings would be marked which way round they must be fitted?

They are very clearly marked. To quote from the BMC Workshop Manual 'When replacing these (angular contact bearings) it is important to place the thrust side of each bearing towards the spacer. The thrust side is that side which carries the bearing part number'.

Please see the earlier comments about identifying the thrust side accompanying the pictures of the bearings.

I don't often post at the moment but I do have first hand experience of screwing up fitting front wheel bearings...and the consequences. It's confession time.

I was distracted at the point of fitting my front wheel bearings a couple of years ago (I'm normally very careful). The upshot was that 40 miles into my journey, doing my best Hannu Mikkola impression around a left hand hairpin there was a loud "clunk" from the nearside front wheel. the steering wheel shook and my nearside wheel made a bid for freedom.

When I stopped (thankfully there was a convenient verge and hedge) the bearing had failed pretty much as Islip described in his "doctored" diagram on another thread. The inner bearing remained on the stub axle and the outer had separated. Of the outer bearing, the one race remained on the stub axle and the other in the hub (which was still connected to the drum and wheel and providing much amusement to a puzzled horse in a field a hundred yards or so down the road).

I learnt from the experience (the hard way) by having no car the next day, needing a new brake back plate and lower trunnion (which I had also just changed), new brake cylinder, shoes etc etc etc. and looking like a bit of a berk foraging around a field in a pinstripe suit trying to retrieve my wheel.

It could have been much, much worse.

So yes, in my experience, it really, really does matter which way they are fitted...
Andrew

bmcecosse wrote:Some were supplying C3 bearings with too much clearance......

Roy,
That was a rear hub bearing
Regards
Declan

Aye -but the same may apply to all the bearings they supply.........