Front wheel bearings

[davidwheeler]

Need new ones for the VIIth.  To save me dismantling first, rollers with axial (one way or two way?) location or balls?   Or a mixture of both??  I have measured from empty hub and stub axle that they need to be 35x72x17 and  and 25x52x15.   I have no idea if the ones installed are right anyway.  Thanks in advance.

[Dikappa]

Hi David, standard deepgroove ball bearings 6207 (35x72x17) and 6205 (25x52x15)

Axial roller bearings in between are not supplied any longer as far as I know, but most re-use them or omit (as modern bearings have deeper grooves and can cope with axial loads much better.  In the latter case a special distance bush is to be turned up to replace the axial bearings and bushes in between them.

If you re-use your original axial bearings (most of the time they are in prefect condition) you could order 2RS versions of the above bearings and just flip out the seals at the inner side of the bearings.

[Tony Stephens]

Or you could buy original spec replacements which are a listed Consortium spare. OK, getting special Lambda bearings is expensive, but they are beautifully made by a specialist F1 supplier, and you don't need to buy them every week.
Also, on the "don't use it, then lose it" principle, I think we should support Consortium manufacture of special Lambda replacement spares. The profit margin is small, non-commercial, and simply helps us to maintain stocks of those items which cannot be substituted. (Well, he would say that, wouldn't he?)
And you can just look in the Consortium list, order them, and they arrive by post. Come on,fellas!

[davidwheeler]

In the end I fitted new deep groove ball bearings and re-used the axial bearings which were in excellent condition.     I had trouble with the inner race retaining ring that, on one side, would only go in a couple of turns one one of my spare hubs (would not go at all on the original) even after carefully cleaning the threads with my thread file, so I consulted my engineering wizard friend John Baxter who told me the trick.  Coarse valve grinding paste and patience will eventually result in a thread that works perfectly.      I did this on the hub of four into which I had the best start, then turned it over and beheld the hub cap thread - left hand thread.  A moment of heart stop until I realised it is for the right hand wheel...