Half shaft bearing advice

I'm replacing the front swivel bushes, bearing, oil seals etc on my series 3 109. I've rebuilt the swivels and looking to fit new half shaft bearings

Looking at the Britpart bearings (secured with a flimsy plastic roller holder) compared to the old ones (held securely in place with brass keep) I really would prefer to use a better quality product. Looking on Paddocks website they sell an OEM bearing (over twice the cost!) but it still doesn't look to have the brass keep! Can you still get the original bearings? What do other people use / recommend?

Graham

ukfactotum said:

I'm replacing the front swivel bushes, bearing, oil seals etc on my series 3 109. I've rebuilt the swivels and looking to fit new half shaft bearings

Looking at the Britpart bearings (secured with a flimsy plastic roller holder) compared to the old ones (held securely in place with brass keep) I really would prefer to use a better quality product. Looking on Paddocks website they sell an OEM bearing (over twice the cost!) but it still doesn't look to have the brass keep! Can you still get the original bearings? What do other people use / recommend?

Graham

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You might be able to get them from JLR, they sell a lot of "heritage" parts now.
Or you could ring up John Craddock, and asks what he recommends as a premium option, he has been selling the bits for decades.
I wouldn't say from my own experience that something being plastic necessarily makes it a bad part, although I would avoid the very cheapest options.
I would be more concerned about who makes the actual bearing rather than what the holder is made of.

Thanks Turboman. It looks like JC sells the same OEM part as Paddocks - 244150G. In a lot of cases Britpart replacements are OK but in this instance I think I will spend the extra and purchase the OEM bearing.

The new OEM half shaft bearings arrived yesterday - before I fit is there a right way / wrong way to fit these into the swivel housing?

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/series-half-shaft-bearings.312595/
This might have some tips, I would drift them in applying force to outer diameter

i prefer to fit bearings so the part numbers are showing on the outside

Just a quick question are you doing this with out a Vehicle Manual to help you do it , and show you have it all fits together as well as torque settings, etc.

steve2286w said:

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/series-half-shaft-bearings.312595/
This might have some tips, I would drift them in applying force to outer diameter

i prefer to fit bearings so the part numbers are showing on the outside

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Thanks Steve

frostythor said:

Just a quick question are you doing this with out a Vehicle Manual to help you do it , and show you have it all fits together as well as torque settings, etc.

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No but the original rollers were encapsulated in a case hence I don't think mattered which way they went in - with the new rollers there is only a "keep" on one side. Personally I think this should face the diff because it would provide security as the half shaft is installed but I cannot see any reference to this in the manual or documentation.

steve2286w said:

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/series-half-shaft-bearings.312595/
This might have some tips, I would drift them in applying force to outer diameter

i prefer to fit bearings so the part numbers are showing on the outside

Click to expand...

Hi Steve: This is exactly the problem I'm having - I've actually opted to install them the other way round (with the collar facing the diff) , it just seems logical as there is less chance of the half shaft dislodging the rollers as it is inserted - speaking to a friend he agreed. It does mean the numbers are on the inside though!!

If they are taper roller it matters a great deal, it also matter if they are ball bearing fit them correctly to ensure they don't come apart

frostythor said:

If they are taper roller it matter a great deal, it also matter if they are ball bearing fit them correctly to ensure they don't come apart

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I agree but they aren't taper - I know because they drop out far too easily; I put them in the freezer in order to ease fitting and the rollers easily fall out!! I even blamed them on being crap Britpart options but after forking out 3x the cost on OEM options they do exactly the same. Anyhow I checked the bearings and they def' aren't tapered. The reason I opted to fit the way I did was to (Hopefully!!) ensure they can't drop out into the axle as the half shaft is inserted as I assume that's what the plastic collar is for. Sadly there is no instructions with the bearings or that I can find. Time will tell if I got it right but I've had 3 people now confirm they agree.

Are they ball bearing then, ball bearing are fitted the same as the outer, sleeve goes in hub, and the inner on the shaft, this means the bearing then control the thrust on the hub, all hubs had 2 cut outs in the so you can punch out and old outer bearing case if you put them in the other way, you may have difficulty removing them in the future, and with the bearing fitted incorrectly there would be little or no thus control preventing the hub moving laterally in and out, as another guise to correct fitting the retaining washer and nut may not be big enough to fit the outer race and allow it to come out, so outer goes in the hub first then the inner then the oil seal

Hi frostythor. No - they are roller bearings but they're not tapered. As you say the outer race is an interference fit into the base of the swivel housing and the inner race fits over the half shaft (a tapered bush fitted in front of the inner race guides the outer onto it) - as you say you would have to drift the outer race out of the swivel housing to change it, which is what I did with the old one. I had to grind the inner race and tapered bush off the half shaft and then fit the new ones.

It may well be they could be fitted either way? My reasoning for fitting the way I did is that (once fitted) the swivel housing prevents the rollers being pushed into the swivel and the collar (unless it breaks up) stops the rollers being pushed into the axle. I've double checked the manual and on line for any reference but it's not mentioned anywhere apart from the forum post Steve pointed out and that didn't really get a conclusive answer!

What is a tapered roller bearing used for?
Pairs of tapered roller bearings are used in car and vehicle wheel bearings where they must cope simultaneously with large vertical (radial) and horizontal (axial) forces. Tapered roller bearings are commonly used for moderate speed, heavy duty applications where durability is required.
watch the video


if your bearing look like this then they are tapered

frostythor said:

What is a tapered roller bearing used for?
Pairs of tapered roller bearings are used in car and vehicle wheel bearings where they must cope simultaneously with large vertical (radial) and horizontal (axial) forces. Tapered roller bearings are commonly used for moderate speed, heavy duty applications where durability is required.
watch the video


if your bearing look like this then they are tapered

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Like this
https://www.123bearing.co.uk/bearing-407303-SKF
The bearing in ? is not tapered as the OP said just a roller bearing

YES I can see they are just roller bearing and will be great on a rotating shaft that does not have thrust from the side, I have been looking at the manual In have on the laptrop and all the bearing appear to be taper in all the drawings I look at so I m not sure how you came to use these ones

watch this and can you tell me what mistake Im making about what your doing

You’re looking at the hub bearings , the halfshaft roller bearing is set further back and in the swivel ball
It’s 244150 below