How to identify a GKN prop shaft bearing?

Having had an issue this week with "grinding/rumble" at low speeds, I have been sniffing around tonight to find that my prop shaft bearings have perished rubbers and are markedwith athe letters BJS. I had my vcu and bearings renewed by a local indy last year at this time and they did inform me that they would fit original gkn bearings....and I paid accordingly. When you look up BJSon line they are a land rover parts supplier of some description but website is without prices. So...how to identify genuine GKN unit.?? Have I been done up like a kipper?

These are genuine LR GKN


P2211807 ZcUw3Lw


P2281803a zPB3fEj

Cheers Hippo, Im going to order up a set 8f gkns anyway as going by noise and location im pretty sure the current bearings are goosed. On the bright side the old ones should come off fairly easily as they havent been on too long.

There's a noticeable difference in the bearing rubber on some non genuine mounts.

Hippo said:

There's a noticeable difference in the bearing rubber on some non genuine mounts.

Click to expand...

Agree with this, Brit part ones I have had are almost solid where as better aftermarket and GKN are much softer

Thanks for all input guys. After some hunting around, discovered there are some supply issues with gkn bearings and was also interesting to speak to a few different companies who have varying opinions of the different bearing types. GKNs seem to be going out of favour. I was also informed by one company that for the thousands of cheap bearing which go out, only a few come back. Now dont get me wrong this could mean those which are coming back after a week or two but months later could be a different story. I was assured that the same amount of expensive units come back, although sales levels are lower. Ive managed ro source the GKNs which I always intended to use after all positive advice on here.

musky81 said:

Thanks for all input guys. After some hunting around, discovered there are some supply issues with gkn bearings and was also interesting to speak to a few different companies who have varying opinions of the different bearing types. GKNs seem to be going out of favour. I was also informed by one company that for the thousands of cheap bearing which go out, only a few come back. Now dont get me wrong this could mean those which are coming back after a week or two but months later could be a different story. I was assured that the same amount of expensive units come back, although sales levels are lower. Ive managed ro source the GKNs which I always intended to use after all positive advice on here.

Click to expand...

I would be a little suspect over what some of the sellers say. What they won't know is how good the operation of fitting the bearing to the vcu went. I use a socket to push them whilst hitting the socket with a hammer. This isn't the best way. You should really use a press. But not many have them. The trick is t push them on square and even. The bearing should only be pushed on using the inner most circle of metal. Pushing the outer parts will cause damage. This may not instantly show up and would reduce life expectancy. We've not had any issues with gkn that I know of.

hello I think I may need to look at fitting some new ones of these in the new year do you have a link to the source you got your GKNs from please, I am slowly going through the prop shaft parts ie front and rear mounts to source as I intend to changed them all in one go, I am doing this as the motor is now 10 years old and a new project to me cheers Arctic2

Totally agree Hippo,poor workmanship is likely how quite a few are wrecked come to think of it. I do quite a lot of bearing fitting in my job as amarine engineer and as most are sealed bearings, they cant really be heated and so have to be fitted by applying pressure to the inner race and most manufacturers do recommend the use of a piece of pipe of suitable diameter and hammering. Having first carefully cleaned all surfaces of course. Despite this some still consider it a cowboy technique. Only further piece of advice I could give is to use an impact socket wherever possible as chrome vanadium sockets can shatter under impact. Arctic2 I ended up getting my bearings from island 4x4 and altho not the cheapest they had them in stock and offered fast delivery. If you arent in any rushyou shouldnt have too much trouble. I hope to receive mine tomorrow and be done and dustedby tomorrow night....and hopefully noise free.

Musky81, can the bearings I put in the pic above be opened to be re-greased? That's assuming they're greased inside of course. Some time ago it was thought they weren't but we occasionally get the question come up.

Hippo said:

Musky81, can the bearings I put in the pic above be opened to be re-greased? That's assuming they're greased inside of course. Some time ago it was thought they weren't but we occasionally get the question come up.

Click to expand...

No not something I would do as once the seals are removed they wont seal properly again after and will suffer from ingress of water/dust. You're right in assuming they are greased inside, prior to sealing. This is the reason we dont heat them on our Induction heaters before fitting, as the temperatures necessary to expand the inner race enough to allow them to slide into place would melt the grease. This of course reduces the bearing life drastically. From time to time I have done opposite to what you mentioned and removed the seals from a sealed bearing and fitted them in a position where there are greasing ports for regular application of fresh grease. Im sure with the accessto the right equipment a suitable housing could be fabricated to allow regular greasing of our prop bearings.

musky81 said:

No not something I would do as once the seals are removed they wont seal properly again after and will suffer from ingress of water/dust. You're right in assuming they are greased inside, prior to sealing. This is the reason we dont heat them on our Induction heaters before fitting, as the temperatures necessary to expand the inner race enough to allow them to slide into place would melt the grease. This of course reduces the bearing life drastically. From time to time I have done opposite to what you mentioned and removed the seals from a sealed bearing and fitted them in a position where there are greasing ports for regular application of fresh grease. Im sure with the accessto the right equipment a suitable housing could be fabricated to allow regular greasing of our prop bearings.

Click to expand...

Thanks

Heres a couple of pics of the bearings i just removed. I was a bit concerned when my local garage who pressed the old ones off for me asked me why i was removing them as they seemed ok. I definitely felt they were a little rough so i removed the seals to have a look. You can see by the corrosion and from what i flushed out with wd40 that there has been water ingress. I was looking into possibility of exchanging the bearings only where rubbers are ok but it looks like part of the rubber is glued/bonded to secure the bearing in. Shame as im sure a quallity FAG or SKF bearing could be found at low cost and "implanted".

I was looking at my vcu bearing the other day and wondered if just the bearing could be replaced. I wasn't sure if the rubber folded over the side of the outer most part of the bearing.

I will make a point of finding out later and let you know. If i can get one out and get details then at least it would be a start. The pics of the fag bearings you posted, and which i should receive today, have details marked on them but the ones i had fitted dont seem to have anything.

ITOQ000040 - Freelander viscous coupling support bearing 15mm . Brand EAC Parts
Part number TOQ000040
Price £14.94 (Inc. VAT)
£12.45 (Ex. VAT)
Availability Available UK next working day if ordered before 3pm.

Freelander viscous coupling support bearing 15mm

FEATURES

• A viscous unit propshaft support bearing for Freelander 1 vehicles.
• Compatible with all Freelander 1 vehicles from 1996-2006 (excluding V6).

DESCRIPTION
This viscous unit propshaft support is compatible with Freelander 1 vehicles . This excludes V6 vehicles. Please note that these parts should be replaced in pairs.
Note these items are European supply with 15mm bearing you may find some lesser quality types being offered with a narrower 13mm bearing which tends to wear out quickly.



website is Shop4Autoparts .got these a few months ago all fine also sell gkn for £51 each

Be interesting to see where you are after a year. The ones I just removed were only on for 11 months and less than 5000 miles. When you consider the originals had done 110k miles and 11years and were still ok then you can see how lifespan can vary. The bearings certainly shouldnt end up being a yearly or 2 yearly service item.

I have yet to order these as I am changing the rear mounts first because the centre one as failed, so may do the lot in one go Arctic2

yes over a year and these bearing are shot the noise cant take it anymore..and message to all don't by cheap ones ............................................................................... only get the gkn fag bearings these Land Rover Freelander Propshaft Centre Bearings X 2 Toq000040g

everton said:

yes over a year and these bearing are shot the noise cant take it anymore..and message to all don't by cheap ones ............................................................................... only get the gkn fag bearings these Land Rover Freelander Propshaft Centre Bearings X 2 Toq000040g

Click to expand...

Nice to know that general consensus on cheap bearings being crap is correct. It's been known for many years that the only bearings that last are genuine GKN. Sorry you found out the hard way. But thanks for the update