MG-Cars.net

Welcome to our resource for MG Car Information.

Recommendations

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG MGA - MGA Front Wheel Bearings greasing

I want to grease the front wheel bearings on my 1600 MGA with wire wheels. Manual seems to suggest I need to remove the hub to pack the bearings. Do I have to? On my Morris Minors I just pack the grease in from outside and it is (hopefully) drawn in during use. Incidentally i see no grease caps on the outer side of the bearing when I remove the wheels. Should they be there or is is different with wire wheels?
H L Davy

The book is right! No grease nipples. You can pack the outer easily, but not the inner.
Art Pearse

Although removing the hub and packing the bearings with grease is the best method, it is possible to grease both bearings from the outside.
It is the recommended method in the factory Workshop Manual for the mga twin cam. The pushrod hub has ball bearings and the Twin Cam has tapered roller bearings, but that does not make any difference.
Grease can be forced through the outer bearing and past the outside of the distance tube to the inner bearing.
You would need to make a cap, as fitted to the Twin Cam (see diagram), to push the grease through. It will not be drawn in by itself.

Mick


M F Anderson

Interseting that the diagram posted shows a grease retaining cap, which is part of the question that H L Davy is asking. I have recently converted to wire wheels and also have the same concern about the absence of a grease retainer cap. The only 'cover' that I have in place is the one that seals over the cotter pin hole in the hub.
s e Rimmer

Thanks guys. I am thinking of getting stainless pins fitted to the disc calipers and maybe will get the hub bearings greased at the same time.
H L Davy

Mick

I am not familiar with the TC hubs but I fail to see how that idea can work with the standard wire wheel hub. The hub has a hole in it adjacent to the axle nut for pushing through the split pin. Using the TC style grease piston will simply force all the grease out through the hole, not into the bearings - lines of least resistance etc.

Steve
Steve Gyles

The WW grease cap came along during MGB production as a standard part, replacing the bent blade hole sealer. Hubs are the same, the cap has a welded on stud to use as a puller.

FRM
Fletcher R Millmore

Steve,

The Twin Cam hub also has a hole for the split pin (see image). To use the force feed method you need to remove the wheel and plug the hole with a tapered screw during greasing. A lot easier than removing the hub. You could do the same with a wire wheel hub.


Mick


M F Anderson

Lots of cars used to have grease fittings in the hubs. Lots of cars also had no brakes when the owner or other klutz pumped the drums full of grease, or the grease boiled out of the hubs when hot, since there was no room for it to expand. Don't laugh, I've seen plenty of people do it, and in a dealership yet! And the grease will get on the discs as well. That's why there are no fittings any more.

With the advent of modern greases and fair if not great seals, there is no reason whatever to mess with greasing bearings more often than every few years, usually when some other work is being done. For example, the MGB workshop and owner's manuals don't even mention wheel bearings in either maintenance or lubrication sections.

OTOH, virtually all manufacturers recommend changing brake fluid every 12-18 months, and all rubber bits in the brakes every 3 years or 30-40,000 miles, whichever comes first. I'm sure everyone is doing these, so grease the bearings then if you like. If you do a lot of fording and seawater races, grease 'em more often!

FRM
Fletcher R Millmore

This thread was discussed between 26/03/2010 and 28/03/2010

MG MGA index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGA BBS is active now.