Defender Td5 Wheel Bearing Issue

Hi everyone,
I'm in the process of replacing a swivel housing and front brake discs and pads on a Td5 Defender. I've fitted the new discs to the hub and applied new grease to the bearings. However, when I torque the hub nut up to 210Nm, the bearings feel really stiff and it takes a decent amount of force to turn by hand. As far as I'm aware this is not right. (This is my first time doing this). I can't remember if they were like this before I started, but I think they felt fairly stiff, but not as stiff as they are now. The hub nut wasn't that hard to undo once 'unstaked' so maybe it wasn't fully tightened previously, which would then lead to the reduced stiffness that I seem to recall.

Basically I'm unsure on what I should do and I can think of 3 options that I've got.
1: Leave it as it is seeing as I've been driving with this bearing and spacer setup for a while and it has felt fine.
2: Change to the older 2 nut system. I guess this would eliminate the chance that the spacer is the wrong size and would allow me to set up the bearings by feel.
3: Replace the wheel bearings with new parts. This would then eliminate the bearings being bad. Upon a visual inspection they look to be in good condition.

Any advice would be appreciated as I am unsure on what would be best to do or if there is something I may have forgotten or overlooked.

Could be the seal hasn’t seated correctly

I would go for option 2 , that's what I have done.

Thanks for the replies so far.
I've checked the hub and it seems like the seal is properly seated. (The lid is flush with the edge and the main body is about 4mm below the edge)
I have also noticed that when the hub is as far back on the stub axle as I can get it, it looks like part of the inner portion of the outer bearing protrudes a few mm from the smooth section of the axle and overhangs the threaded portion. I've drawn a quick diagram to show what I mean by this. Is this normal, or should the bearing be more flush with the smooth part?
Also, the bearing does not appear to be a Timken part, it has NWB written on it. I guess this isn't OEM and therefore could be why the spacer may not be the correct size?

There are several different sizes of spacer, I can't remember the process for measuring and finding out what spacer is required that's why I changed to the old system, it's simple to adjust, something that you are unable to do with the spacer and single lock nut set up.

Can I ask how this setup works. My older defender hub has a fixed spacer as part of the hub. Both the bearing outer rings seat against this, and without it you could drive the outer rings straight through the hub. From what I can see this fixed spacer keeps the hub, via the bearings, on the stub axle - so how does the td5 version work?

Dr Strangeglove said:

Can I ask how this setup works. My older defender hub has a fixed spacer as part of the hub. Both the bearing outer rings seat against this, and without it you could drive the outer rings straight through the hub. From what I can see this fixed space keeps the hub, via the bearings, on the stub axle - so how does the td5 version work?

Click to expand...

On the Td5 you put on the correct spacer and tighten it up effin tight, I can't remember the torque figure.
You can't adjust this to compensate for any wear in the bearings unless you have different sizes spacers.

As far as I'm aware the td5 defenders also have the fixed 'spacer' as part of the hub for the outer races of the bearings. In addition to this, there is also a non-fixed spacer to keep the inner races a certain distance from each other, which in turn sets the preload and end float when the nut is tightened to 210Nm.
There are many different sizes of this spacer available and you need the correct one to set up the bearings properly when using the single stake nut tightened to 210Nm.
This is what I understand it to be, correct me if I'm wrong.

Another thing, should the wheel bearings make any notable noise? When I spin them by hand with the stake nut just hand tight, I can hear what sounds like a kind of whirring noise. I'm not sure how else to describe it. Is this normal, or is it a sign that the bearings will need replacing?
The other front wheel also makes the same noise but slightly louder. It almost sounds like lightly dragging brakes, but it's not this because I have removed the brake pads.

My TD5 has the single nut and the spacer in the middle. However, the spacer isn't quite long enough in some cases so it's effectively the nut doing all the work. The nuts have an outer flange which can be staked onto a flat bit of the stub axle so they're not going anywhere. I just do them up to eliminate play and avoid unnecessary stiffness, and they've been fine (with occasional wheel bearing replacement) for the last 120,000 miles. If the bearings are noisy, it's worth replacing them. They don't last forever, and then at least you know they're fresh. It's worth avoiding Britpart's own brand and getting a famous name version (NTN, Timken, SKF, et al). Yes, the bearings are designed so they don't sit flat - the inner race is always proud of the outer unless they're very worn indeed. Yes, the treaded bit of the stub axle will appear to go in deeper than the bearings when the hub is on. It's a good idea too - otherwise the nut(s) would bottom on the end of the thread before the bearings were tight.

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