Having just worked through this dilemna myself last weekend on both a
TR-6 and a GT-6, offer the following.
I noticed more wheel play on the front TR-6 axle than acceptable and
removed the wheel...found inner bearing outer race had turned and
groved the hub sufficiently to allow the race to wobble...noted, on
removing the bearings that the DPO (PDO?) had installed two felt
seals, one mounted with the felt facing the bearing and the other felt
facing the upright...this is interesting since I've owned the car
since 1980 and never removed the hub (at least I don't remember doing
so)...and the car gets driven regularly w/ >160K miles. I had
tightened the axle nut several times and greased the bearings from the
outside regularly, but never felt necessary to remove hub...so, I went
to local LBC store and purchased wheel bearing kit...which came with
bearings, split pin, grease, and guess what...four (two for each side)
felt seals. Now none of the books (and I have 'em all) show two seals
per side, so the question became (the one you've asked) which way do
the felt seals face...in or out.
The answer lay in disassembly of my GT-6 fron wheel...logic says it
should be same as TR-6, al be it with a smaller bearing...and
presto...the felt on both right and left wheels faced the up right...I
confirmed this with the afore mentioned LBC shop, and reinstalled all
4 hubs, bearings, races and corrected felts...felt good so to speak!
The question unanswered is...why are there two seals per side in the
wheel bearing kit????
PMQ
73 TR-6 (with new front rotors, hubs, bearings, and felts
72 GT-6
69 GT-6+ (2) One of which with new front rotors, hubs,
bearings...etc.
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: FW: Spit Front Wheel Bearings
Author: "Vincenti, Ross" <VINCENR@transamerica.com> at smtpgate
Date: 9/30/96 11:53 AM
Over the weekend, a member wrote:
> OK, I finally replaced my front wheel bearings on Saturday, and
> after driving the car yesterday, everything seems OK. One question
> came up while I was installing the bearings though.
> > Which way 'round does the seal go? Felt to the bearing or felt to
> the hub?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
And Jonathan Miles replied:
Felt to hub is correct. I've tried this both ways by mistake but
eventually found out that the latter is correct.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Okay, hate to argue, but I've went through (1) Bentley Manual, (2) Haynes
Manual and (3) an old Autopress Manual for early Spitfires and concluded
(based upon drawings and text) that the felt part butts up to the upright,
not to the hub bearing. However, I do have one interesting difference on my
car. On the left side the felt oil seal spins along with the hub bearing
and on the right side the felt oil seal stays stationary when I spin the
hub. It appears that the felt is getting slightly hung up on the machined
face of the upright. Any thoughts as to whether this is going to cause
problems later?
Ross D. Vincenti
64 Spitfire 4 (undergoing surgery)
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