bogus

I think some of the pics came from the rock auto website.

Kev - GREAT research!!!! You have earned an extra large Gold Star for this one! A+!!!!

CentralCoaster

I've seen a pic of a grenaded one, it had ball bearings in it.

Supposedly the fronts are tapered rollers. Supposedly Timken only makes tapered rollers. The tapered rollers I pulled out of my stock diff are timkens. The front sealed bearings are NDH. Replacements I bought were NDH. Maybe timken makes the bearing and NDH sticks it in their hub assembly?

Either way, the ball bearings are a bad choice for the rear end.

rocco16

My VW uses tapered rolling elements in the rear, and ball bearings in the front!!
A properly-designed ball bearing will withstand lateral loads as well or better than rollers.

Larry
code5coupe

CentralCoaster

Even if the bearing races are setup like the one in the pic below...?

http://www.timken.com/products/beari...ring_types.pdf

parafrog

the next logical question is:

did gm make an identical size bearing with rollers for a different car's front that would fit our rear? although, now i ask the question, it does sound highly improbable.

thanks for the info coaster, you just saved me money, and for the heads up from everyone else.

Tom Piper

I finally found the time to look in my '92 shop manual for the specifications on the amount of free play in the C4 wheel bearings.
On page 3-20 of book 1 of the shop manuals it states:
"If looseness exceeds 0.1270 mm (0.005") replace hub and bearing assembly."

Since I can't adjust the bearing play on my C4, I can only use the adjustments that I made on my C2 as a reference.
I made several adjustments on my C2 rear bearings by changing shims, and measuring it with a dial indicator and then checked it with the not-so-accurate way of grabbing the tire at 12 and 6 O'clock and rocking the wheel.
C2 rear wheel bearing play tolerance is .001" minimum to .008" maximum.
Zero play is unacceptable on a C2 rear bearing.
My impressions of the feel:
.001" play = seemed too loose
.004" play = don't drive it more than one mile to get home.
.008" play = call a flatbed, the wheel is going to fall off just sitting here

C2 rear bearings are husky tapered roller bearings.

So, I can only assume that .004" of play on a C4 (which according to the book is acceptable) must feel pretty bad.


Tom Piper

CentralCoaster

I had one, measured .004" play from the edge of the flange to the knuckle. It was knocking audibly during hard cornering.

The other bearing with .002" was quiet.

I replaced both. New ones had zero play.

steve40th

I think I have one. Let me look, and if I do, I will try to get it apart. Steve

SS409 425HP

I disassembled one (1987 rear) using the hyd. press at work. It is a ball bearing design. Took quite a bit of pressure to push it apart.

Z~max

May I ask what brand you used?

Tom Piper

Thanks for the information.

I'd really like to get a couple of hub/bearing assemblies that would bolt on and were tapered roller bearings.
I wonder if there is a way to find out -- like, would a company that makes the stock bearing, such as Timken, be able to come up with an equivalent?


Tom Piper

larryfs

I just went to autozone with the bad Timken. I purchased it on April 5th. Now it's May 16th. They refused to give me my money back, only a replacement.....

CentralCoaster

When I get a house sometime in this century and start designing my own Corvette parts, one of the ideas is a rebuildable hub design that can accomodate a replaceable $10-20 bearing. I know there's more stout bearings out there that cost less.

larryfs

what ever happened to the old fashion spindle, and the bearing races were pressed into the rotor, and the bearings were disposable.

Stefan Nord

Whos part # is this?

Tryed Gm http://www.gmpartsdirect.com/ and others... and no hits :o

CentralCoaster

Those are BCA part numbers. Just search for it by make/model that I mentioned.

Tom Piper

I know there were early vehicles that used ball bearing wheel bearings on the front, but you won't find very many later ones.

Heres one of the early ones for a 1951 Chevy:
http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductD...pe=184&ptset=A

It just doesn't seem like a ball bearing would have as much lateral support as a cone-shaped tapered roller bearing.
This one is for a 1990 Lincoln TownCar:
http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductD...pe=184&ptset=A

On this one, make sure you read to the bottom about tapered bearings.
http://science.howstuffworks.com/bearing3.htm

http://science.howstuffworks.com/bearing2.htm

Interestingly, on my 1990 Lincoln TownCar rear, 100% of the side thrust is applied to the inside the differential by the semi-floating solid axle -- the roller bearing wheel bearing is flat.
For inward thrust, the solid axle pushes against the pinion shaft in the differential gear cage, which normally turns at the same speed as the wheel.
For outward thrust, the solid axle pulls against the clip in the groove in the axle against the inside if the side gear.
If the axle breaks, the wheel (axle and all) is coming out of the car on the next corner.


Tom Piper

Tom Piper

That's exactly the way the C2 and C3 vehicle's rear bearings are.

But, boy are they a B??CH to take apart and setup. In fact, you better have access to a 20 ton press -- although, I've done a few without it. For most, I've had to pull the trailing arm (bearing, axle, brakes and all) off the car and put it in a press. There is a special "on the car" press that works for the ones with disc brakes (it attaches to the caliper mount), but won't work on the '63 and '64 with drum brakes. That special tool is about another $200.

And, the special tools for setup ran me about $350.
The inner races are interference fit on the axle -- once you put it together, it's staying.
So, for side play, you need a special axle simulator where the inner races are not interference fit. This way, you can change shims and check the play with a dial indicator until you get it correct. Then, you install the setup on the axle ONE time.

If you don't know who JohnZ is, view his comment and "Public Profile" in this link:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...+wheel+bearing

Tom Piper

Draven

Upping the post - can anyone else get to wheelbearingsinc.com ?

Did they shut down?

-Joe

CentralCoaster

Also an update, the Caddy bearings seem to be out of stock and out of production.

And Pep Boys here has zero more rear wheel bearings with lifetime warranty.



My listing seems to say the Napa bearings are SKF. I did that because they use SKF part numbers. But this doesn't explain the two different prices. If you get the answer, please post it here for the rest of us.