Joined: Sep 2017 Posts: 2 Threads: 2
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Sorry, this is a repost as a gremlin had put a line through my previous post! I have cleaned the a/c bearings and mounted them thrust sides adjacent in the carrier. With the carrier held in the hand the bearings revolve freely and feel fine. When fitted to the shaft (in the carrier) and the l/h thread nut tightened the bearings become tight and feel slightly rough. Woodrow says tighten down hard. Am I over-tightening or is something else amiss? (I have mounted the lower bearing and spacer before fitting the carrier!)
Joined: Aug 2017 Posts: 741 Threads: 8
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Location: N W Kent
Are these new bearings? if so, it sounds like you have too much preload between the bearings.
Even if they are used and the bearing tracks and balls are good and preload between the two AC races is OK, you should be able to fully tighten the pinion nut to compress the bearings and still have them turn smoothly.
You should be able to take AC races out of the top hat and put the pair of them in a vice with the jaws clamping the centre tracks; the outer tracks will clear the vice jaws as they are narrower than the centre ones on your axle. There shouldn't be any axial movement of the bearing pair and they should spin and run smoothly. #
If they don't run smoothly and they're used bearings, I would make sure that the're absolutely clean and then take a good look at the balls and the bearing tracks with a decent magnifying glass, you are looking for signs of pitting or metal pickup on either or both. It's possible to shim used AC bearings, but it's a waste of time and effort if the balls and tracks aren't in good shape.
