RUMCars Forum
General Category => Unusual Microcar Discussion => Topic started by: adi on September 07, 2009, 08:15:26 PM
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Iv got ANOTHER problem with this car. Sometimes i feel i will never finish the damn thing.
I decided to change the rear wheel bearings. They were a little rumbly and had a little play. Not enough to fail a MOT (with the chain on the rear sprocket and stuff you wouldnt notice the rumble anyway) but i figured since i got it taken apart i might as well change them. So i went to some bearing place and got a couple of modern sealed-for-life equivalents. Because they are sealed there is no need for grease in the rear hub, and therefore no need for a seal, but i bought a seal anyway.
I took the hub apart, the old bearings wernt great, and the seal was completely gone. I pressed in the new bearings and assembled the whole thing, but now the shaft has play in it (slides in and out) and the backs of the wheel studs on the drive plate hit the brake mechanism sometimes.
So, i tried assembling it with the old seal, which kind of worked but the oil seal is pretty bad.
So i took it apart again and assembled using a new seal, a modern plastic equivalent. Now its really tight! Like exessivly tight. Thats just the new seal, but if i leave it like that, once the new seal wears abit it will have play again.
I dont understand, what exactly locates the stub axle in the bearings? Its almost as if there is a thrust washer missing somewhere. The seal performs the function of a thrust washer! Without the seal, the shaft is free to move a mm or two in and out of the hub. But the seal is only rubber/plastic, it wont last long as a thrust washer.
I dont understand this at all...At the moment it looks like this
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v405/adibrook/bearinggg.jpg)
So...if pressure is applied to the drive plate (from the top down as its orientated in the picture) surely the grease seal isnt the only component that takes that pressure?