Thread: Rebuilding Sid

Originally Posted by Aaron IIA

Only wheel bearings that I have replaced on a Series were when water had got in past failed original leather style seals. Large slow turning bearings running in oil tend to last a long time.

Aaron

Oh dear..... you had probably best order a set of bearings now... you know what's going to happen now you said that.

I got rid of the leather seals years ago. I also don't play in creeks much any more.

Aaron

Remembered this thread from a few years ago regarding wheel bearings.
Series III wheel bearings

The later ones are the same as the Defender and even Timken bearings are relatively cheap.
Name brand early bearings are very expensive.
The aftermarket ones are no-name brand probably produced in India. I fitted one set to my Series I and drove to Cooma & back 11 years ago, still doing OK but not exactly a high mileage vehicle.....

$21 plus freight from the UK for a no-name brand kit.
Wheel Hub Bearing Kit - Front & Rear - Series 2 and 3 - Paddock Spares


Colin

Hi,

Does anyone know where you buy locking wire from these days? I know Loctite is more widely used, but for my diff rebuild it has to be wire to hold the locking tabs.

None of the fastening companies I use stock it any more.

Cheers
Paul

If you have an airport nearby try any aviation supplier or licenced engineer.

Have you tried Repco or one of the bearing Co's
We use SS tie wire on the race car ,think we either got it from
Blackwoods

got distracted with a side project while waiting for parts to arrive


IMG_0720.jpg

It was this or de-rust leaf springs. I'd been mooching around the tool shop looking at the budget options and not feeling very inspired, so for about half the price, a visit to the off-cuts bin at steel shop and a couple of hours work last night I have this little toy. Bit beefier than the offerings online...... happy bunny!

Sid himself is progressing, chassis to rear of bulkhead de-rusted and being primed this weekend and I even got the old bushes out of the chassis... that's a pleasurable pastime. Diff on hold waiting for new bearings.... and then there are the springs to do.

Diff has been an interesting journey, this unit has been fully rebuilt some time in the past, new Timken bearings all around. The wiring is very neat so someone knew what they were doing...sort of. It looks as though they left loose bits in the axle from whatever caused the first failure. Crown bearings didn't have enough play and cooked themselves and they did not replace the oil seal so the flange bearing is toast. Bottom inch is rusty. This can't have been a cheap job, I would not have been chuffed and it probably explains why the axle was part of a disassembled heap of land rover.

I have gotten to the bottom of the difference in the bearings pre and post 1964.

The earlier bearing is much larger, almost 4mm in diameter and 8mm in depth. The Timken equivalents are 3188 (pre-64) and 88046 (post). The later one goes all the way through the Series 3. The early bearing is a fairly rare part, even from Timken it is pricey, and I've only found a handful of places sell them. I guess they don't wear out very often. The early bearing are not only bigger, the load characteristics are way better, nearly 30% better bearing capacity.

Today has been springs day.....

They started like this



Separating was done with a bench vice holding everything while the pin was cut off..... the bang still gets me each time.

Three step process to cleaning



First pass was done with a needle scaler to remove the lumps and leave the steel level.

Second pass with the roughest wire wheel for the grinder

Final pass with the soft carborundum grinder pad and quick wipe with rust converter to get into any pits that are left.

Won’t win any beauty contests but they look sound and serviceable and are a huge improvement.