I thought I would have the rear wheel bearings looked at, minimally repacked anyway, since I don't recall ever having done that in my eighteen years of ownership (15K miles of driving). A Stude buddy has a mechanic friend with experience in old cars (not Stude-specific) who said he'd do the work.
The car is an R1 '63 Lark, Twin Traction, odometer shows 101K.
My buddy says I should buy the bearings and seals up front, in case his friend needs to replace them.
I don't have a clue if there is NOS available, or if they're FLAPS items, seals, part numbers, etc.
I can look up parts nos. Stude used in the parts books, but what does anyone think I should use? New or NOS? As mentioned before, I am mechanically-challenged to say the least!
The inner seals have a modern replacement, CR 13157 or equivalent. The outers are unique to Studebaker and are probably easiest to just order from a vendor.
You may wish to have the axle housings drilled and tapped for the grease fittings like the earlier cars, so you don't have to pull the axles and manually repack the bearings.
I don't know if the bearings are easy to find or not; I haven't had a car yet that needed them, and if it did I would probably buy a complete used axle and bearing, or else I'd have to take it to a machine shop as I don't have the tools to press the bearing on the axle.
Bill, here are some interchanges, except for the outer seal:
533161 Outer r/a seal: this is pretty much a Stude vendor only seal. While some aftermarket companies still list this seal, I have not had success in ordering it. If you get this from a vendor, be sure to look closely at the gaskets that should come with it. Several of these seals that I have gotten recently have a much thicker gasket than was originally used; I use the original thin gaskets which I cut from bulk material. I don't like how the thicker gaskets tend to compress too much at the bolt holes when the seal is tightened, but then again I am quite anal about these things! The felt seal inside the metal casing can be replaced, but it is such a hassle that I usually just get new ones. Phil Harris a Fairborn probably has the best prices. By the way, these seals should be located (centered) correctly before tightening; I use a bare hub that I have just for this task, but I guess the hub/drum could be used as long as the brake shoes are backed off.
Axle inner seal 539573: interchange is National 40769S. Don't let them substitute National 5131 because it won't work. However, the 40769S was still available recently, altho the supplier had to order it from the warehouse. Also, don't let them substitute a CR13165 because that won't work either. I have talked to CR and they recommend CR13157 as the correct application, but I have not tried that one yet.
Axle shaft race 165167: Timken 14276 Good bearing/seal supply can cross to other manufacturers
Axle shaft bearing 530451: Timken 14132T Good bearing/seal supply can cross to other manufacturers
Phil Harris at Fairborn Studebaker may be able to get pretty close on these prices to what you can get them locally, with less hassle. I do know that some of the Stude vendors (for example, a big national vendor in Greenfield IN whose name I won't mention) get obscene prices for these seals and bearings compared to what a bearing/seal supply house will charge. I guess convenience costs a lot of money!
By the way, I have found that a bearing/seal supply house will have better prices than the auto parts stores.
Also, I would shy away from NOS parts in this application since new is readily available, unless you already have them and they are in excellent condition. The exception is the outer seal, which I have used NOS with no problems as long as the felt is in good shape.
While this is all being reassembled, I would recommend that the mechanic check and adjust if required the axle endplay. The procedure is spelled out in the Shop Manual, and should be followed as written.
Hope this helps, let me know if you have questions. You may want to double check that I got the right Studebaker part numbers for your application.
You say it's a "TT". The thrust blocks often drop out of place, into the axle tubes, when the axles are pulled. Look for that. You can fish them out, and poke them back in place. Mike M.
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