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Front hub bearing grease repacking

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warwick-steve

warwick-steve

Jedi Hopeful
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Hi all
The front hub bearings on my BT7 were adjusted and re-shimed about 2000 miles ago by an AH specialist just after I bought the car. I presume that the bearings would have been repacked with grease at that time however whilst being MOT'd recently the tester suspected that the off side bearings might need repacking with grease.
I have never stripped down the front hubs on an Austin Healey but have decided to tackle this myself and and wonder if this is a fairly straight forward procedure. The workshop manual indicates that some special tools are required??
Anything to bear in mind or to prepare in advance for?
Thanks for your help
Steve
 
I made this tool from a 5/16" bolt, nut and coupling. Added the large socket as a slide hammer:

FtAxleDustCoverRemover.jpg


Installer version - small socket and large washer keep dust cover stud from installing at an angle:

AxleCapInstaller.jpg
 
warwick-steve said:
Hi all
The front hub bearings on my BT7 were adjusted and re-shimed about 2000 miles ago by an AH specialist just after I bought the car. I presume that the bearings would have been repacked with grease at that time however whilst being MOT'd recently the tester suspected that the off side bearings might need repacking with grease.
I have never stripped down the front hubs on an Austin Healey but have decided to tackle this myself and and wonder if this is a fairly straight forward procedure. The workshop manual indicates that some special tools are required??
Anything to bear in mind or to prepare in advance for?
Thanks for your help
Steve
Click to expand...

How would the inspector know the bearings need repacking, unless there was a grinding noise or feeling when rotating the wheel? If so, or if your mechanic failed to pack the bearings adequately--how could that happen?--they would probably be toast after 2,000 miles. Worst case you'll have to replace bearings and races, which gets to be a bigger job. Let us know what you find when you get in there and we'll document bearing replacement for you if you need it (I just did it on both sides). If it is just a re-pack job, it's remove/pack/replace (you shouldn't even have to replace the seal). I used this stuff, and it just felt 'better' than the typical bearing grease:

https://www.rvautoparts.com/80401-R...MI7dj4vtSa2wIVDdRkCh1ugQzCEAQYAiABEgJUXvD_BwE

Side note: I bought a battery maintainer from an RV supply place--don't recall if it was this one--but they seem to have better prices than the 'usual suspects.'
 
Just removing that cap should reveal if there is grease in there or not. Get the torch out and have a look see inside.

:cheers:

Bob
 
Just so there isn't a horrible grease fire, Bob is referring to a flashlight:fat:
 
Gentlemen
Brilliant, thanks for the information. The video and the special cap removal tool is really helpful.
I just jacked up the car and spun both wheels. Both run freely and smoothly. The nearside wheel is almost silent whilst the offside a little louder but not gritty.
Having now seen the video, I think the mechanic who adjusted and re shimmed the bearings 2000 miles ago and who has years of experience on Healeys would I am sure have repacked with grease.

Picking up on the point made I have a couple more questions please.

- Is there any obvious way of telling if it needs new grease. Would it be noisy and and feel rough when spinning the wheel? How noisy does it have to be to warrant this strip down?

- The guy in the video indicates that it is only the outer bearing that dries out, so picking up on Bobs point, if I remove the cap, the nut and the tab washer I should be a able to see if there is grease there and if there is this access to the outer bearing is it necessary to remove the hub to grease the outer bearing?

Thanks again for your help and Jon, point taken, I will not use a lighted flame!
Steve
 
It is not really possible to know if your bearings are in nominal condition (i.e. not rusted, pitted, flaking, cracked or if the races have spun in the housing) without, at some point, looking at them. I would say that if the bearings were known to be in good condition and were properly cleaned and repacked that repeating that once every 3 or 4 years would be OK if there are no issues. Goodness knows, I might have gone "a bit" longer if the truth be known.

Bearings may feel smooth even if one or two rollers are pitted and thinking about getting worse. If you can pull outwards on your wheel, easier with the tire on, and rotate the wheel to feel for any roughness you would possibly be able to detect a badly worn bearing. Do the same by pushing inward in the wheel. There should be essentially no end play but do not confuse some play in the steering linkages for bearing play. You really shouldn't hear any roughness type noises but don't let a tiny bit of brake drag fool you. If you are sure yor mechanic packed both bearings on each hub you are probably fine but you know what they say about "assume"....it makes an ass out of u and me. For someone doing this the first time I would venture that the bearings would have to be in pretty bad shape for you to detect defects this way. In general bearing wear slowly if properly maintained and that wear accelerates as the wear continues until it is failed catastrophically ( fairly rare) or is detected at a normal repack. If you hear noise while driving, go home if you can.
 
Hi all
Took the car to the local AH specialist today. He spun the wheels and confirmed all was OK. He didn't identify any problem with the suspect off side wheel. He did find that there was a small amount of movement on the nearside but not sufficient to need attention yet.
Being now more aware of the need to check the bearings/hubs as part of a maintenance schedule I will perhaps tackle this myself (for the first time) in the autumn. I note the comments in other threads about end float checking by hand or dial gauge and fitting the bearings so I will no doubt be back asking for more advice from those of you who have done this many times before.

For now, many thanks
Steve
 
warwick-steve said:
advice from those of you who have done this many times before.

Steve

More times than I have had hot dinners for various reasons, as I class my car as a rolling restoration one tends to go over things several times over, drip feeding changes, and suffering from upgrade-itus.

:cheers:

Bob
Click to expand...
 
Thanks Bob
Could I just ask for clarification of what I think is the procedure (basic steps)
-undo the axle nut
-disconnect the brake callipers
-pull off the hub/disc assembly
-undo the nuts holding the disc onto the hub
-dismantle the hub assembly, check, clean and lightly oil the bearings (replace if necessary)
-place the hub/disc assembly back on the axle and add shims, washer and nut to achieve zero? end float
-remove hub/disc assembly and grease bearings (EP2 Lithium grease?)
-place hub/disc assembly back on axle and torque up axle nut checking end float again, fit split pin and grease cap

How best to pull off the hub/disc as manual says special tool?
How best to torque up the 5 bolts i.e. how best to hold assembly?

I am 2 years into a learning curve on maintaining my BT7. With the help of this brilliant forum I have carried out a a number of jobs never before tackled by me. The "front hubs" is the next one but I will delay until after summer.

Thanks again
Steve
 
--undo the caliper bolts and tie the caliper off to one side
--remove the hub dust cover per above; remove the cotter pin from the hub nut using the holes on either side of the hub
--remove the hub nut
--grasp the disc rotor with your clean hands and pull the disc/hub assembly off - be sure to carefully collect the shims between the outer bearing and distance piece
--clean bearings, now is good time to check clearance (per many other threads) - inspect the seal
--repack bearings; installation is reverse of above.

Not necessary to detach rotor from hub. Keep disc free of greasy fingerprints.

Observe torque spec on reinstallation of hub nut. Note there are 2 cotter holes at right angles so you only need to make 1/12 of a turn to line up cotter pin.

Suggest blue loctite on caliper bolts on reinstallation.
 
Last edited:
Steve, thats great.
Just what I wanted.
I do have the end float advice from some other threads so I think I now have enough back up information.
I might source a dial gauge although I note that many owners set the end float by hand feel.
Thanks again
Steve
 
I wouldn't use anything other than a grease formulated for wheel bearings and constant velocity joints (synthetic isn't much more expensive). Wheel bearing grease needs some special properties, not the least of which is tenaciousness as the grease will all but liquefy when it gets hot. There is a bit of 'technique' in applying the grease to the bearings; either use a bearing packing tool or, better yet, make sure to force the grease into the bearings by 'scooping' off your hand. This video shows the general idea:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXYvJv-zWlw
 
Just before you strip the hub off the car check with that dial gauge the run out on the discs, if there is noise from the front brakes - when I checked mine I had a 3mm run out - ouch - should be very very little, can't remember the exact figure but mine were way out.

:cheers:

Bob
 
While installing new bearings in an off-topic vehicle, the workshop manual recommended putting a glob of grease inside the hub in addition to packing the bearings themselves. When I removed the hub, there was a glob of grease in there just as fresh as the day it was put in. My question is what is this glob of grease supposed to do? I can't see that it's lubricating anything, just going for a free ride around and around in the hub.
 
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