drone getting worse

make sure the hub shaft is nice and ridge free ,this can cause prem bearing faliure.
as for quality bearings look for names like nsk ,skf, timken...if you can get a close up on the picture on ebay look for these stamps on the bearing...if no name then there cheap china imports and they wont last long due to inferior ball cages and seals ,make sure you get them pressed in too...they dont like the ol hammer and bar trick.
i once ended up with china ones and the tolerances were so bad that they tightened up and would barely turn when pressed in.

- - - Updated - - -

this is a good thing though ,changing a gearbox or even a drive shaft is worst.
 
I've just bought two hubs from Eurocarparts, never dealt with them before but staying away from Ebay this time around. £88 for the pair. Not ford but hopefully will last longer than the last ones.
Next week end will be the fun of fitting one of them. Getting them out isn't to difficult, Mechanic showed me, when the bearing disintegrates leaving the outer race in the hub the trick is to run a weld around the inside of the bearing race, the heat pulls the two apart and it's fairly easy to knock it out with a drift, socket or whatever. Last time I used the garage hydraulic press to drive it in. Might look at drawing it in with some threaded rod but we'll see. My only concern is will this fix the drone, I think it will so long as I put the oil back in the gearbox ! S'pose now is a good time to change it since it's out anyway.
I took the opportunity to remove the arch liner and the protective liner inside the rear of the wing. I'll treat the rust while its accessible, mainly around the spot welds. Will get the power wire brush in there tomorrow night.
 
Tuesday evening I spent half an hour in the garage driving the hub out of the knuckle with a large socket and my lump hammer. Just the outer race was left jammed in the knuckle by the time I stopped in mercy of the neighbours. This evening I did as mentioned above, run some weld around the inside of the bearing race, only reason is to generate lots of heat. Then moved back into the garage, sitting on the spring (the upright is still in one piece ) with the hub end raised clear of the floor on a couple of timber blocks I used a stout chisel on the ridge in the middle of the bearing race and lump hammer to drive it out of the knuckle, half an hour of thumping later it dropped out. I then spent another half hour with a rotary wire brush in the mains drill and gave the inside of the wheel arch a good clean down, no serious rot but all the spots are back to almost shiny metal. I gave the knuckle the same treatment particularly inside where the bearing will be going back in. Tomorrow will be chemical treat and paint on Saturday. The bearing should be with me by then so reassembly can commence. Wonder if I can find the metre long length of 20mm stud bar I've got complete with nuts and spacers, it might be man enough to draw the bearing back in. I last used it to compress the springs on my XJS when I was changing the front subframe on it, could be 10 years ago now, that was fun !
 
Last edited:
would it not be simpler to take it to a local garage and get them to press it in rather than risking shortening the life forcing it.
 
ggsumo said:
would it not be simpler to take it to a local garage and get them to press it in rather than risking shortening the life forcing it.
Click to expand...

Maybe it would, but where is the fun in that ? Or maybe the bearings I'm having to change now where damaged when I took them to the local garage to be pressed in last time. Who can say for sure. I will be careful in my fitting them, they have cost me enough in cash, sweat, effort and bruises to screw them up.

My nice shiny new front hubs where waiting for me when I got home from work yesterday. I managed to conceal my disappointment, no bearings fitted to the hubs, despite the box stating wheel bearing kit. Doh !
Back to euro car parts website this morning and ordered Lucas branded bearings for collection later today. My better half is very understanding of my spending on various garage projects but on this one, at the moment, I opt not to make my error too obvious by not having them delivered to our home !
Progress was limited last night and will be over the weekend by televised Moto GP season kicking off.
 
Last edited:
Should any one be interested I've made good progress today. I found the afore mentioned 20mm stud bar and using a combination of washers, plates, the old bearing outer race that I knocked out earlier in the week, the old hub and one of the new hubs as reducers I was successful in my mission to draw the new bearing into the knuckle. I was very very careful to make sure I only applied pressure to the outer edge of the bearing. It was fairly demanding in terms of effort, I had to stand on the 20mm spanner to drive the bearing in. The advantage of my doing it manually is if it gets tighter, which it did from time to time, I could take it apart to investigate, I couldn't do that last time when I watched as the hydraulic press forced them in. Domestic demands caused a pause but I returned to the workface later in the day and applied some primer by brush to the various treated lumps of bodywork I'm trying to stop rotting within the wheel arch. I also applied some paint to the spare rear suspension arms for the rear subframe which is the other ongoing project. I then took a look at the hub which needs to be driven into the bearing which now sits in the knuckle. Trusty 20mm rod and spacers did the trick. This time the opposite applies and I was careful to only apply pressure to the core of the bearing to draw the hub in. I'm delighted to report now all assembled and spinning very smoothly. None of the lumpy dryness of the bearing before this hiccup started. Tomorrow the primer will get a coat of blue hammerite and hopefully the upright will be refitted.
 
Last edited:
Glad to hear you finally got this sorted. A tip for you in future reference when using the drawbar method. When the spanner starts to tighten excessively, give the mandrel a few periferal taps with the hammer, it helps shock the pressure off the threads and makes life much easier.
 
Sunday, I painted the inside of the arch and got the upright back in place, apart from fitting the wheel the drivers side is now all done. Getting the bottom ball joint into the upright is a pain. It would be easier If I had spring compressors, maybe I should buy a set but projects budget has been spent on hubs and bearings, an unplanned expense. I managed to get it in same way I did last time, using the steering arm to hold the back and then draw the front side in with a tornequee rope set up around the subframe and one of the caliper fixing lugs. works a treat so long as you can have 3 arms to keep everything in control.
When fitting the foam A post foam liner thingy I applied a heap of silicon sealant to try to reduce the amount of water and debris that gets thrown onto the bit of the front wing that wraps underneath at the front of the sill. I must have taken a pound earth and leaves from that lovely trap. I did the same to the wheel arch liner at the same location and all around the liner to wing meeting point. Found some bubbles in the paint at the top of the wheel arch that I've not noticed before. I wire brushed and treated the inside but she will need wings in the next few years.
During the evenings this week I'll change the way the car is supported to get the wheel free and start stripping the passenger side
 
I can now report the above procedure was repeated to the passenger side, the same degree of surface rust treated under the arch whilst I had the liners out. All rebuilt and tracking checked on Saturday morning. Today I drove her to Cardiff and she was blissfully drone free. Mission accomplished, I am a happy bunny. Before dropping her down I also refitted the decat pipe as a temp experiment to see how SS manifolds combined with the decat pipe affects fuel economy. I am hoping it will be better with less restriction in the system. A few more motorway trips should answer the question.
With the car out of the garage I can now recommence working on my spare rear subframe. Nice thick coat of brush on primer tonight to the main subframe. I wanted to poly bush it but spending on the front bearings and tyres makes me feel she's had her share of spend just at the moment, still like to uprate the rear antiroll bar if anyone has one I'm interested.
Cheers.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.