Front wheel bearings.

[Rich]

I got an advisory on my last MOT for the nearside front wheel bearings and have been getting an worsening vibration on braking. Having picked up some bearings I set about changing them today. The first surprise was the taper rollers that came out of the box and the ones in the hubs are normal roller bearings, still, nothing ventured, nothing gained and I changed them. And the knackered ball joint that hadn't shown up on the MOT..

Looking in the Haynes I could find no mention of fitting taper rollers and no guidance on torquing up the hub nut. Tightening it to anything like the torque used on the rollers simply locked the bearings up. After backing the nut off and re-tightening to remove play the disc spins freely with no discernible play.

Have I just fitted completely wrong parts here or is this a recognised modification?

[Stuart]

They'll need a spacer in the middle, although having said that some bearings have extended centres that do the job of the spacer.

Most other cars use the method you've used though, although they have a cap that fits over the hub nut for fine tuning the adjustment.

[Hans Efde]

After backing the nut off and re-tightening to remove play the disc spins freely with no discernible play.

I once saw on Wheeler Dealers (I think it was the Audi Quattro) that Ed China advised to give it a quarter turn extra play because they will expand when they get warm. If there is no play they will jam and wear excessively. So he said. Worth taking a look at.

[Rich]

The hub nut seems to be at the normal height so not sure how much spacing it would need, or perhaps these are the 'right' bearings in the first place. There was a steel spacer in the kit but from what I can tell it's for fitting the kit to drum braked mini hubs.

I'll keep an eye on them and if everything stays smooth I'll look to upgrading the set on the other side as I prefer taper rollers any day.

[Stuart]

No the spacer goes in the middle. Those bearings won't fit a drum braked Mini.

[Rich]

No the spacer goes in the middle. Those bearings won't fit a drum braked Mini.

The spacer supplied was a completely different diameter (smaller), no way would it have sat in between the bearings with the tracks seated on the spacer that's built into the hub.

[Stuart]

The CV shaft holds it in place.

spacer ones


extended centre ones

[Rich]

Gotcha now Stuart, that makes more sense. Thank you for persevering with me.

[manifold]

I don't recall using a spacer in my taper rollers. I basically fitted them and tightened the but till it felt right. i.e it was still spinning but no slop. Undid them a couple of turns and reseated them. You will need to nip them up now and again as they wear. That's the beauty of taper rollers. They last longer and it's easy to remove the castle nut too. No need for a stupidly long bar to tighten up to 200lb or whatever it is.

[Rich]

I fitted the spacer and it allows you to gorilla the nut without locking the bearings up, either way should work I suppose. The car is much smoother as a result with less knocking and banging, still got a vibration on braking at speed but I'm feeling it through the car and pedal rather than through the steering wheel so I think I need to look at the rear bearings as well. At least I know that I've already got taper rollers in there already.