Balljoints & Wheel bearings

[Tom2000]

A few questions:

1.How do I get the hub caps off? The haynes says to just tap them off and there is a photo suggesting the use of a screw to then pull on, neither bloody works!

2.One of the balljoints swings round freely, the other is rather stiff and difficult to move, can I solve this with application of greese etc or do I have to replace, if I do have to replace do I really need to replace both on either side?

3.How do I tell if the wheel bearings need replacing when I have the hubs off the car (and once I get the bloody hub caps off to gain access to them!). One of the hubs spins freely, the other slows down when spinning at one specific point in its rotation - but not a huge amount.

4.How do I curb my new addiction of taking everything apart? It's interesting but becoming rather ridiculous, as:
- replacing the radiator turned into an entire new cooling system with thermostatic fan and shiney radiator mounts
- additional wiring for cooling system turned into a high output alternator and replacing all the engine electrics (not really shiney, but nice)
- sorting the headgasket turned into a full engine rebuild (shiney paint)
- replacing GT6 springs with standard springs turned into wishbones, bushes, nut/bolt, plates, shocks and springs (very shiney)
- springs then turned into what is to become.. wheel bearings, vertical links, track rod ends, balljoints, discs and pads  :o

p.s i love it.

[junkuser]

Good practice to replace the wheel bearings in any case in an old car that is new to you.

Brazing a 1/4" UNF nut on centre of dust cap, drilling through and tapping, is a good long term answer using a 1" machine screw to remove the cap and a short one to keep dirt out at other times.
Getting them off the first time is probably best done with the gentle use of a screw driver and hammer, working 'round and 'round the cap.

[Clive]

1. use a small chisel/screwriver and tap at right angles, they will come off but you need to get th ehang of it.
2. The stiff one is "probably" the OK one, they feel looser the more worn they are. Should be smooth too.
3. catching is bad, it will need replacing. You MUST replace all parts of th ebearing, including the cups. A long drift/punch is handy to knock the cups out.
When fitting the new bearings, sometimes they need readjusting after a short time, sometimes more than once.
4. find something else to spend your money on ;)

[sparky_spit]

When you put the new bearings on, be very careful not to adjust them too tightly. With the correct endfloat, you will have about 4mm "wobble" at the outer edge of the tyre, when rocking it vertically.

Best way to achieve this, especially just after fitting new ones, is to do the nut up quite tight to make sure they are seated nicely, the slacken it right off and give the wheel a wobble. Then do them up gently until the nut stops, and back off until you have 4mm of wobble. Put the split pin through the nut and nearest hole that gives best result.

Don't tempted to run them too tight. They expand with heat and if too tight, will overheat, lose all the grease, and the inner race will weld itself onto the stub axle.

[alex4wwl]

Hi
the way I have always done bearing adjustment is
tighten the nut fairly tight to seat the bearing, then slacken off and let the spanner fall down,till it stops under its own weight
thats the correct torque
Alex

[heraldcoupe]

When you change the bearing, the new felt seal will be compressed as the bearing is tightened. this can give a false impression that the bearing is sufficiently tight, when indeed it's still slack. I set the bearing, then give the car a short run, then check it again to see if it's settled. Something of an iterative process, but it works for me,

Cheers,
Bill.

[thescrapman]

Have a word with Mr Bancroft, he knows all about fitting wheel bearings..

He's done it loads of times

:-)

Colin

[jms700]

small screw driver and a hammer did it for me, toolk a wee while though.

sparky_spit wrote:

Don't tempted to run them too tight. They expand with heat and if too tight, will overheat, lose all the grease, and the inner race will weld itself onto the stub axle.

this is good advice, i tryed everything before i got told i had to use oxy acetyl torch to get the race off of my stub axle. turned out to be a nightmare.

[Pete TR7]

1.  As other have said, I use a screwdriver and tap at 90 degrees, I have a small indentation now which helps. screw method works once before the thread strips.

2. The loose ball joint needs replacing the tight one sounds right.  It should be very difficult to move the ball joint by hand, should be lumpy though, on the car there are much greater forces involved.

3. On the car if when you turn the hub it feels lumpy then the bearing should be replaced, its movement should be smooth.  Off the car examine the rollers, if pitted or rough they are suspect.  I had to replace one of my front wheel bearings last night, it was disintegratiing, only took 1.5 hrs, showed up as vibration on the steering wheel and excessive movement of the hub.  Tightening up the new bearing is a matter of judgement as the new felt seal has to compress so recheck soon after fitting and readjust, may need doing a couple of times.  I tend to keep clearance to a minimum but dont over tighten.  The bearing I changed must have done 70-80k miles since I last changed it.

4. Drive the car regularly and you wont have time to work on it - thats why I allowed my bearing to get a little too far, plus regular use makes the car more reliable.  I do 300 - 400 miles a week at the moment on my Spitfire (not washed the car since December - no time).