Hi, Kicking the tyres on my 89 RR revealed a slight amount of play in the wheel bearing. Sure enough after jacking it up there is a tiny amount. Looking in the LR manual says hub end float should be 0.013 - 0.1 mm. I was always under the impression that taper rollers should run with a small amount of preload. If there is any play whatsoever then only one roller takes the load. Any gurus care to comment ?
thanks ,
Preload is usually considered unnecessary and undesirable on wheel bearings. The one bearing carrying the load will not happen since the weight of the vehicle is always on both bearings radially. In gearboxes and differentials preload is usually applied to taper roller bearings to ensure that the gears remain accurately in mesh despite their trying to push out of mesh under load. Since there are no gears involved, this is not a consideration for wheel bearings, but since they are heavily loaded the addition of preload can easily overload the bearings. JD
"A loose wheel bearing is a happy bearing". Without free play they load up further with thermal expansion when in service and wear through the hardening in next to no time.
I had a quick google in my spare time and a bit of end play is the norm ( although bearing life is extended with a small amount of preload ). timkin.com and SKF.com have loads of info on this very subject.
thanks,
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