Rear inner bearing

[bulfin]

Hi,

I just purchased new bearings for the rear from JAE. In Buckland's book, he says the rubber needs to be trimmed so that the cover will be flush and the circlip will be installable. However, this bearing has no rubber to trim - it does have a metal flange on the inner race that sticks out about 1/8" and will keep the cover from being flush if that side of the bearing is on the differential side. If the bearing is flipped, the protrding metal will be inside the bearing carrier but will need to be pressed on the axle with force on the protuding metal, which doesn't seem smart. Jay at JAE said no trimming is needed (I miss Jeff at JAE). I have attached pictures of one of the bearings. Any and all advice is welcome.

Thanks,

Bob

[AHM]

Another use for this bearing is on a washing machine.

The groove on the outside is for an 'O' ring - you don't have it... not needed.

On the Lotus supplied bearing the back seal is an inverted lip seal ie it looks like it is the wrong way round. The rubber coated edge or the lip seal protrudes above the surface of the bearing.

You don't have the inverted lip seal - so there is no need to trim anything.

There should also be a metal dust cover that completely covers the face of the bearing, and sits between the bearing and the circlip.

The centre of the protruding part is the inner race. The protruding part goes inside the housing otherwise you will offset the shaft. You press on the inner race not the slinger that is attached to it.

[Certified Lotus]

Well, the timing of this question is most appropriate as I have the same bearing from TTR and was wondering about this. Will be installing mine this weekend. Thanks for the detailed information!

[bulfin]

AHM, thanks for the quick and comprehensive reply. I am still not sure how to support the bearing while pressing the axle through it. Maybe I can find a short lenght of pipe the right diameter, or maybe a bearing separator will go under the lip.

Thanks again.

Bob

[Craven]

Hi,
Don?t apply force via the spider legs, press on the centre of the shaft only as these can distort. Press on the centre of the race only. In fitting bearings no force should be transmitted via the race.
I believe the original use of this type of bearing was on a Ford rear half shaft, hence the direction of the inner oil seal and the ?O? ring groove, to stop axle oil reaching the brake drum.
Ron.

[rgh0]

I use a length of suitable pipe to press on and off the bearings. I have a pipe with three cutouts for clearing the arms of the drive shaft and pressing off the inner bearing. You do need to support the shaft at its centre and not on the arms when pressing on the bearing

cheers
Rohan

[bulfin]

Is it possible that lip holds the dust cover? Mine just fits and there is space to put the circlip in when the cover is on the lip.

Bob

[AHM]

Bob,
I'm slightly confused - Your bearings don't seem to have a lip for the dust cover to contact.

I don't have Brians book so was none the wiser - I just put the metal cover and the circlip over the top. The rubber squashes ok and who knows it may help to keep the dirt out.

For completeness here is the bearing with the rubber seal.

[CBUEB1771]

I went through this problem last fall:
lotus-gearbox-f37/outboard-drive-shaft-bearings-t32763.html
I finally found SKF bearings of the correct specification at Dave Bean Engineering. Most everyone else had the "No name" bearing pictured in this tread. Interestingly on the Alibaba site I found the Chinese manufacturer of the bearing with that odd inner race configuration. If you are up for buying a couple hundred bearings they go for about one GBP a piece!

[alan.barker]

i think the bearing with the lip is the outer bearing

[AHM]

i think the bearing with the lip is the outer bearing

The bearing shown is the inner bearing.

The outer bearing is symmetrical.

What lip?

[CBUEB1771]

i think the bearing with the lip is the outer bearing

It is definitely the inboard bearing that has the lip on the seal face that needs to be trimmed. The only reason to trim this lip is to allow fitment of the sheet metal debris shield.

[bulfin]

Okay, lets see if I can clarify some things.

This is a different bearing than the one in the Buckland book, so I should have ignored what he said. However, the bearing did have a protrusion (see pic 1 in my 1st post) that I called a lip on the inner circumference of the bearing. I thought (the problem ) this would keep the dust cover from being flush with the bearing (just like the rubber mentioned in the Buckland book.) Thus my question in my first post. When I got everything together yesterday, I saw the dust cover would, with a little pressure, slip over the lip and be flush with the bearing. The lip also helps hold the cover to the bearing. So now I beleive the lip goes on the inner (differential) side and the flat (non-lip) side of the bearing can be supported while the axle is pressed into it.

Here are pictures with the dust cover on.

Sorry for all the confusion.

Bob

[AHM]

Bob the Lip as you describe it goes on the inside of the housing - Otherwise you will offset the shaft.

See my first photo with the title "Inside housing". same protrusion on the inner race.

It appears that you have the same bearing, but with different seals - That's not an issue.

[CBUEB1771]

Bob the Lip as you describe it goes on the inside of the housing - Otherwise you will offset the shaft.

AHM is absolutely correct, the inner race offset (what we have been calling the "lip") must face into the hub carrier. This is clearly illustrated in both the rear suspension and hubs sections of the workshop manual. If you install in the other way around the outboard axle will be offset in the inboard direction. I am not sure but the outboard axle could be offset enough to cause the hub contact the inner race of the outboard bearing which could be disasterous when seating the hub on the axle.