Well after ignoring a "squelching" noise for a good 1000 miles and constantly telling myself I must get round to replacing/overhauling bearings/axles, something finally gave. Very dangerously actually.

I was driving home at around 45-50mph when suddenly the FOS wheel temporarily locked up, swerving me on to the other side of the road. Luckily nothing was coming the other way otherwise it would not have been very pretty. This is a strong reminder that although land rovers will trojan on even when something is wrong, it does not mean you can ignore it! Lesson learned!

Anyway, as you can probably tell from the pics below, the question in the title is more than rhetorical. Catastrophic bearing failure. And I know a lot of you must be thinking I must have been ignoring some serious signs of failure for it to get to this stage, I can confirm that the light squelching sound was the only audible tell tale.

So I have myself a little project for the next few weekends. I will definitely be going round the whole vehicle, overhauling all four before any more driving on the roads.

Can anyone recommend a particular brand for stub axles/swivel pins/bearings/anything else that I am likely to have to replace? Naturally I am having a good look around but always good to get more opinions. I am a poor chap so looking for good price/performance. I usually go for the "middle" choice.

Hope you are all enjoying this sunshine!!

Harry

presuming its later rather than early ,ftc3154 would do but if you want as good as possible google ftc3154g

jamesmartin said:

presuming its later rather than early ,ftc3154 would do but if you want as good as possible google ftc3154g

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Its always been a bit of a struggle to determine which parts to get. 300, first registered end of OCT '94 which I believe is around the time of the revision.

I think ive sorted my shopping list for this job. Went for the FTC3154G as well as TDJ000010 cvj, (I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure the cvj has too much play) DA3165P swivel kit 8mm seal without ball.. my balls seem fine bearing kit and hub seal.

The only things I am struggling to find are replacement bolts for the entire assembly. I've got a feeling rimmers will be able to sort me out and they are only down the road but just wondered if there was somewhere everyone goes for these.

Island 4x4 do all the bolts... As will any garage supplies ship but island have then on website all labeled up.

I did the same on mine. Overhauled the axels entirely and used all Islands kit to do it. No failures yet. No leaks. And not expecting any. Even though I did use "****part". I think atleast 70% of the reason Britpart have bad press is amateur fitting of the products.. Obviously to get what you pay for as with anything but non moving parts? I see no problem with aslong as the moving parts are fitted correctly. (Right torques/preloads etc)

Larry365 said:

I think ive sorted my shopping list for this job. Went for the FTC3154G as well as TDJ000010 cvj, (I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure the cvj has too much play) DA3165P swivel kit 8mm seal without ball.. my balls seem fine bearing kit and hub seal.

The only things I am struggling to find are replacement bolts for the entire assembly. I've got a feeling rimmers will be able to sort me out and they are only down the road but just wondered if there was somewhere everyone goes for these.

Click to expand...

order bolts as part numbers ,they have different tensile strenghts for different jobs if you get stuck ill know what you will need

All parts are in (minus a few bolts) and today I began to strip everthing down to the axle shaft seal. I've hit a bit of a dead end though. The bolts holding the ball to the axle are completely shot. The bihex ring wont touch them and the ball is stopping me from getting a socket in there. The only thing I can think of is to cut the ball off and replace. Its lost a bit of its chrome... to help justify the drastic measures.

Anyone got any ideas? Is it possible to replace the seal without removing the housing? ie squeezing it through and assuming gasket FTC3646 is in tact. Still leaves the issue of not being able to replace the ball seal and retaining plate.

the only way to change the seal ftc3401 is to cut seal and fit the join top most, but a decent 14mm combination spanner and use a hammer to shock loose

I've managed to get 3 of them off but there nothing left of the head on the remaining and thats before ive touched it with a spanner. As a chap of limited tools (and cash) etc, I think I might crack on putting everything back together replacing parts etc and take it to a local garage to get the bolts off. Last thing I want to do is completely strip them. The axle oil is at its level and is very clean which is a good sign.

Managed to get it all off in the end. Nice new shiney parts everywhere. Just at the point of reassembling now.

I was just wondering if it would be ok to use lithium grease to pack the bearings. I spent my last fiver on a new track rod end and can't afford anything else lol. The temp range is -30 to +120. Of course if it isn't adequate, I will find a way of obtaining the right stuff. Cheers