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specific front wheel bearing questions

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tomshobby

tomshobby

Yoda
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For a number of reasons I have been working with a couple of other guys on a fairly extensive research project into possible front bearings for our cars. That is bearings that actually fit correctly and are still being produced.

At this time I have a couple of specific questions. They are these, has anyone purchased a set of taper roller bearings from The Winner's Circle. They say they "drop in". What I want to know is do they fit and do they maintain the original hub/rotor position? Also, does anyone have the bearing make and number? To be fair the answer to this last question can be pm'd to me. I would like to see if it is already in my list of bearings checked for fit.
 
~HERE~ is some good info on this subject.
 
I have found the answer to the questions posted above. At this time three solutions have been found to the problem. There are three of us working on the problem and as soon as we come to a conclusion we will be posting the results.
I have yet to see two of the three solutions posted anywhere.
 
I've been meaning to do this for quite some time but mine are good so I've put it off. Let us know what you find.
 
I am not sure what all of the extensive research is. There are several choices for front wheel bearings offered. The generic stock style ball bearings. These are common sizes and can be found very cheaply most any place that offers bearings. Regardless of prefix or suffix just the basic 303 and 205 series bearings. Comes is nearly all brands in a large range of styles and tolerences. Open, sheilded, sealed, with phenolic, all variants of plastic, steel or brass ball retainers. You can get tapered roller bearings with same ID/OD and width dimensions as original ball bearings. These are capable of much higher side loads and more tollerant to improper preload adjustments. You wont need the sleeves with these either, but can be used if wanted. For a more expensive approach, you can go with angular contact bearings. Available in many ranges of tollerances. From high precision used for spindles on machinery like lathes, mills, surface grinders, etc. There are usually way too expensive to justify. Angular contact bearings on the lower end of cost are a little more expensive than the other choices, but have more surface area on load side than standard ball bearings. Since the tapered rollers have been used on almost all other non British vehicles built, its hard not to consider these the better choice. You dont need to use the spacer from stock wheel bearings. They have a much higher side load and impact rating, and can digest some amount of trash without self destructing. They have been proven and all US manufacturers went to them by the mid 50's.
 
There are three of us working on this question. Myself being new to a Midget having purchased one in boxes never having seen one intact. The other two being considered experts on Spridgets and both long time racers of them.

I have replaced thousands of bearings over the years on many kinds of vehicles and equipment doing regular maintainence to complete rebuilds. I purchased new bearings from a very reputable source for my '74 Midget and thought they fit until I tried to mount the calipers and found that they did not. The search for a solution began at that point and I have investigated several different bearings, both ball and taper. At this time I have not looked into the "face adjusted" ball bearings simply because of cost. I want to find a solution that will work for all of us and be as economical as possible. I have found a couple solutions that would work for me because I have access to a machine shop to make the changes needed. While that would work fine for myself it would not help the majority of others with these cars.

If anyone knows of a solution we would really like to know of it. BTW, the taper bearing, Timken 07097, is not a universal solution. It requires some modification to fit properly. It has a 1.5mm inner radius and many axle stubs have a 3.5mm radius which would not allow the bearing to fit against the flange. I believe that it is entirely possible that this "misfit" may be the cause of some stubs flexing and breaking. Something that may have been blamed on the center bearing spacer not being used with the taper bearing.
 
If I recall correctly the 07097S is the correct bearing (need to verify that).
I did this conversion a few years ago and all that I needed was a .050" wide spacer between the calipers and the frame for everything to fit correctly.
I am still running those bearings several thousand miles later so I guess that it works.
Bill
 
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