Ok I'm on the other side now. The inner bearing has a cover over the ball bearings? Stamped FAG. Don't think they have seen much in the way of maintenance over the years!
Likely been replaced at some time with a sealed bearing, rather than an open one? They’re the same thing, so no prob.
I wonder if the sealeed bearings do better or worse - do open bearings benefit more from being open to new grease from the spare grease packed in the hub carrier, or do the seals keep the good grease inside ?
I’ve never seen any point in packing hubs with grease. It’s not going to melt, and it’s not going to go anywhere.
Agreed and having done this job many times, scraping out a bucket full of useless grease only adds to the PITA-iness of the job. I never repacked the hub.
It serves absolutely no purpose. Half a mile down the road and the grease will get flung to the outside of the hub, where it will stay for the next 20 years, doing…nothing.
Finally got the driver's side done this evening. Not quite the same result as the other side. It's better but still has a little play. Mot next sat so will see how it goes. Possibly the stub axle is a little worn. The bearings were both tight going in.
The amount of internal clearance reduced by the differential expansion of the two rings can be determined by using the following formula: δt ＝α×ΔT ×Do Table below is NTNs internal clearances for cylindrical roller bearings! ... Perhaps leave it at that unless you're a tribologist, but it will have been worked out. As I'm sure you're aware by now @Rich83 the bearings are C3 grind with a little extra clearance for heat expansion. Try and go for a little drive before screeching onto the MOT ramp like your arse was on fire so any heat you've got into the hub hasn't got a chance to dissipate before the MOT man knows what's hit him!
I think there is a problem that unless you do the big nut up to the required torque, the hub can wobble on the shaft splines, and if that has ever been left loose in the past, the splines start to wear. Its not a tapered set of splines, so it relies on you really crushing the hub onto the drive shaft with that nut. If you have under torqued it then its worse than over doing it. I found with the GSF bearings, when I tried the roller bearing sleeve out inside the race before fitting it was quite loose, but when the bearing was pressed into the hub carrier, it became a lot harder to get the roller bearing sleeve in, almost as though the tolerances had gone slightly the other way. I think the aim is to get it to just about zero, but with space for the grease. So far it hasnt gone wobbly.
If you had zero tolerance the bearings would eat themselves in 5 miles. All joking aside... It's just best to fit OE or best quality from a known manufacturer and follow the procedure. VW used FAG, INA, SKF and Timken on their vehicles. To be honest if these manufacturers are used wherever possible the application tolerances will have already be worked out and we don't need to confuse or over fink wots already been fort It's all pretty simple for us...
I think thats right, but these days you dont often get the choice of manufacturer , just be glad to have a bearing ready to use.. But what is just as important is installing them exactly straight and having the rollers clean and well greased.
