Hi all,
I need to renew all 4 of my front wheel bearings ( and replace the leather grease seals ). I got a warning from the tester doing my last warrant of fitness recently.
Question I have is has anyone used sealed bearings rather than the open and packed with grease type?
I can't find anyone in our NZ VAR who has done this.
I can obtain either type here in NZ, just buy the sealed ones and pick out the rubber seal.
cheers
Gary Cullen
VAR NZ
1933 Austin 10/4 front wheel bearings
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GaryCullen
- Posts: 58
- Joined: Wed Nov 20, 2019 1:34 am
- Location: New Zealand
Re: 1933 Austin 10/4 front wheel bearings
Hi Gary,
I haven't done this either, but imho why not just leave the seals in?
Sealed bearings are 'lubricated for anticipated service life' according to the manufacturer, and in my experience in the trade I would say that 99.99% of post-1990 light vehicles use this style of bearing in their front/rear hubs, usually good for at least 80 000 km in normal service. I can't remember the last time I saw the instruction 'front & rear wheel bearings: remove, clean, inspect and re-grease if satisfactory' in service literature
Assuming critical dimensions/type/load rating are correct obviously.
Cheers
Rod
I haven't done this either, but imho why not just leave the seals in?
Sealed bearings are 'lubricated for anticipated service life' according to the manufacturer, and in my experience in the trade I would say that 99.99% of post-1990 light vehicles use this style of bearing in their front/rear hubs, usually good for at least 80 000 km in normal service. I can't remember the last time I saw the instruction 'front & rear wheel bearings: remove, clean, inspect and re-grease if satisfactory' in service literature
Assuming critical dimensions/type/load rating are correct obviously.
Cheers
Rod
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GaryCullen
- Posts: 58
- Joined: Wed Nov 20, 2019 1:34 am
- Location: New Zealand
Re: 1933 Austin 10/4 front wheel bearings
Thanks Rod,
I agree with your advice. I guess the up side of using sealed types in the Austin 10 is that our VAR outings here in NZ tend to incorporate plenty of unsealed ( we call them Shingle Roads ) roads and in the summer there is usually plenty of dust! Sealed types may give better protection.
I think I will still apply a small amount of grease at each end and on the inner of the Conical Spacer that sits between each bearing. I am not sure if this is supposed to rotate with the wheel. It looks to me that each end sits against the centre bearing ring so it probably doesn't. The off side one is a loose fit but the on side one is quite tight.
cheers
Gary
NZ
I agree with your advice. I guess the up side of using sealed types in the Austin 10 is that our VAR outings here in NZ tend to incorporate plenty of unsealed ( we call them Shingle Roads ) roads and in the summer there is usually plenty of dust! Sealed types may give better protection.
I think I will still apply a small amount of grease at each end and on the inner of the Conical Spacer that sits between each bearing. I am not sure if this is supposed to rotate with the wheel. It looks to me that each end sits against the centre bearing ring so it probably doesn't. The off side one is a loose fit but the on side one is quite tight.
cheers
Gary
NZ