At 10:50 PM 7/11/03 -0400, James Feyrer wrote:
>.... putting in new front wheel bearings..... When I assemble the hub with
>the spacer in between and *no shims* I still have noticable free play in
>the hub. The free play is such that I can noticable rock the hub from
>side to side.
Been there a few times. The proper repair is to replace the wheel
bearings, even if they don't look bad. Read this:
http://www.chicagolandmgclub.com/driveline/0402/jasw.html
We had another similar case on an MGB at our spring technical seminar. The
bearings and races looked okay, but still left slop even with no
shims. With no new bearings handy in hand, the expedient fix was to grind
a little bit off the length of the inner bearing spacer, followed by
shimming according to prescription.
There are two things to keep in mind if you do this. First is that the
bearings are already worn and still need to be replaced, and the sooner you
do it the better. So don't forget to put the new bearings on your shopping
list, and the little chore on your to-do list. Second is that the ends of
the inner bearing spacer must be perfectly parallel to maintain proper
alignment of the bearings. If you used a surface grinder to shorten the
spacer, you're okay just adding more shims once you get the new bearings
installed. If you held the spacer by hand to shorten it on a pedestal
grinder, then the ends are probably no longer parallel, in which case you
should also buy a new inner race bearing spacer along with the new bearings.
>....
>I have consulted the voluminous archives on this question and have come up
>blank. I suppose I could remove the spacer altogether ;-). Any other
>suggestions?
Yes. Do not remove the spacer. This item has been discussed
previously. The spacer is a structural part of the bearing spindle
assembly. If you remove the spacer, then the next large pothole you hit
may bend the bearing spindle.
Barney Gaylord
1958 MGA with an attitude
http://MGAguru.com
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