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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - froont wheel bearing play- suicidal!

Goodness knows ive tried, believe me ive tried.
For the life of me I cannot get rid of the excessive play in the NS front (UK) wheel bearing. I have measured all of the components, spacer, bearing thickness, im using NOS unipart GHB129 inner bearing so I know the fillet radius is right for the stub axle, the outer is a SKF 7205 BEP. I cannot see any mackling of the inner surfaces of the splined hub, the faces are clean, infact the whole assembly is spotless.
Im closing seventy so I dont have a lot of time left to sort this out!
Please help this poor old decrepit pensioner...anybody... please!
R C Skerritt

You didn't buy your NOS Unipart bearing on ebay recently, did you? There was one for sale which looked decidedly secondhand.
Dave O'Neill 2

Are you 100% certain it's still the wheel bearing? Have you checked for kingpin and outer fulcrum play?
Lawrence Slater

NOS?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271844604874
Dave O'Neill 2

Whats the general rule..

Jack up the front... grab a wheel at 9 and 3 with a good shake if it has play its wheel bearings

Grab it again at 12 and 6 with another shake and if there is play its suspension related... king pins, dampers, rubber bushings ect ect.

I think thats correct ???

Prop
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

Is the outer bearing face adjusted? I thought the SKF 7205 BEP's were not. I had understood that both inner and outer bearings have to be face adjusted to ensure it all tightens up ok.

Bob Beaumont

I would just adjust the spacer. I decided to do this about 10 years ago using cheap EBay bearings and have never had any issues. I used a digital mic to keep a check on how much I was removing, and after about 3 sessions had the radial play on the races just about right.
Fergus Pollock

Sorry Bill, I forgot...


Dave O'Neill 2

This sold for £45


Dave O'Neill 2

Bob spotted it. You have the wrong spec SKF outer. You needed BECBP, NOT BEP.

Inner and outer are, 7303BECBP 7205BECBP, respectively.


Dave, even IF that is unused, 45 quid for the inner ALONE? Someone must have been MAD. That box looks TOO clean for the state of that bearing. PLUS, it looks to me, likes it's been turning in the hub, -- a worn hub.

Esp, as you can now buy from Chris Buckenham for 45 quid the in/outer set, -- brand new.

If those are the silly prices they are reaching, I may just have to cash in one of spare sets in, instead of selling it on with the midget. lol.
Lawrence Slater

Hi Lawrence
Thanks for your input.
Whats the difference between BECBP and BEP?
I was that MAD person! In desparation and despair trying to fix this wheel bearing wobble issue. I had read much about the issue of the stub axle fillet radius and every other bearing I had found had less than the 2mm radius required, and I tried a few. So, as a final resort I looked for an original old stock item. When I received it I cleaned it in an ultrasonic bath, as I was concerned that it may be a used item (trust but verify) It came out spotless with no sign of wear or wear particles. I had it examined by a friendly mechanical engineer who declared it unused. Good enough for me.
So, desparately insane, yes, still having sleepless nights, breaking down and sobbing on occasion! But I wont give up!


R C Skerritt

The stub axle:


R C Skerritt

The splined hub:


R C Skerritt

The two bearings need to be face adjusted so that when used with the spacer and the hub nut torqued up, it has the correct preload and no looseness. In simple terms a face adjusted bearing is machined more accurately. The original bearings (made by R&M) for this application were face adjusted. R&M no longer exist but Chris Buckenham is marketing face adjusted bearing sets made by SKF,as Lawrence says, for £45 per side.

Now you can machine the spacer to take up the play but then if you renew the bearings in the future you will need a new spacer.
Bob Beaumont

R C, I'm glad to hear that it was as advertised.

I'm also pleased to say that I didn't make any reference as to the sanity of the purchaser ;o)

You also seem to have moved from Leicestershire to Conwy since yesterday!
Dave O'Neill 2

RC

I just want to say thank you for your attention to shop safety... you are an example to many of us here on how saftey should be valued

I doulbt many of us here even own a white hard hat let alone wear one while working on the suspension... well done man.

Prop
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

Prop
i'm as bald as a billiard ball and was constantly carving grouves in my head. The neighbours thought my wife beat me so she got me the hard hat. (she does beat me by the way, but knows how to leave no marks!)
Dave
moved about ten months ago to a new build, utter chaos, downsising but trying to house my classics. bitten the bullet and just picked up the bearing problem again. Been spending all my time wrestling with Wyatt Earp and his side kicks (the builders) and only just started to look at the cars.
Bob
R C Skerritt

Rc. Ok. So if you are sure the inner is unused and thus good to go, you just need the correct outer. BECBP.

"Whats the difference between BECBP and BEP?"

One is face adjusted, and one not. Face adjusted is BECBP.

I'm not really sure exactly which suffix letter says face adjusted. I think it is the "CB" letters combined.

But see this.
http://www.skf.com/group/products/bearings-units-housings/ball-bearings/principles/bearing-basics/basic-bearing-designation-system/prefixes-and-suffixes/suffixes-a-b/index.html

And this.
http://www.bearingboys.co.uk/Angular_Contact_Ball_Bearings-10-a



Lawrence Slater

Bob

Just looking in the archives at wheel bearings, and the first thread I looked at was one where you posted in 2010.

I have a NOS R&M MJT17 outer bearing, if you're interested? daveo138 at yahoo co uk
Dave O'Neill 2

Thanks Lawrence,
Duly noted
R C Skerritt

This thread was discussed between 24/06/2015 and 29/06/2015

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG Midget and Sprite Technical BBS is active now.