Wheel bearings

[Peter Connan]

Graham (GTech) had a problem with one after-market bearing that he had modified in a hell of a rush for a non-forum friend of mine. However, I am probably partially to blame for this failure, as Graham and I were communicating over the phone only, and since a picture is worth a thousand words and no pictures were exchanged, he ended up having the replacement bearing machined incorrectly.

The OE bearing has a larger radius in the inner back corner (seen in red in the picture in post 2 of this thread: http://patrol4x4.co.za/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=2994. The reason is so that the stub axle can be manufactured with a relatively large radius in the corner where this bearing is fitted, eliminating a stress-raiser and thus making the stub axle much stronger than it would otherwise have been.

However, instead of increasing the radius, the machine shop Graham used ground the back face of the bearing thinner, so that the bearing would seat further onto the hub. This had the effect that a sharp corner was created on the bearing, which was forced against the round corner of the stub axle during assembly. The results of this were firstly that the hub did not sit in it's correct position (causing problems with auto hub engagement) and secondly that where the bearing touched the stub axle there was a very high force. Since the bearing is harder than the stub axle, the bearing's sharp corner was effectively forced into the stub axle, and the result was that the bearing adjustment rapidly degraded.

All this happened litterally during the week before the vehicle was to depart in a two-week trip to Botswana, and since the vehicle in question carried the minister who was to officiate at a wedding which was the whole reason for the trip, and since Nissan didn't have any stock, this was a considerable crisis at the time and the vehicle was used in this condition, with the only precaution being to lock the front hubs manually.

Upon our return, I personally replaced the offending bearing with another pirate part, this time correctly modified, and the vehicle has been fine since (it's more than a year ago now).

So the moral of the story is, if the modification is done correctly on a quality bearing, there is absolutely no problem with using an aftermarket bearing...

[Mokobi]

Thanks Peter, you are the man

[tour de frans]

Hello almal
Ek het my patrol se wheel bearings vervang. Die hele lot, voor en agter.
Ek het al die bearings opgespoor vir R2300 btw ingesluit en by nissan al die seels vir R1400.
Ek het die agter bearings se ghries uitgewas en gepak met Omega 95. Die voorbearings ook gepak met dit. Die Omega ghries se hitte graat is hoer as die "gewone ghries" en verplaas water.
Ek het n demostrasie gesien van die ghries n tyd terug. Die ou sit ghries op n hamer se kop en kap met n ander hamer die twee teen mekaar. Dit spat glad nie soos n gewone ghries nie. Dis ook nie soos teer nie. So ek sal sien hoe dit vaar in my kar.
Ek wou net feedback gee. Indien iemand n agter bearing soek, kontak my ek sal jou op die spoor sit. Die GU en die GQ vat dieselfde bearing.
Groete