Recalcitrant Rear Wheel Bearings.

[vincereynard]

I cannot get the circlip to fit in the groove.

The bearing is 20.8 mm thick (difficult to be totally accurate as it is on the shaft and the shield in place) and the housing has a depth (after the groove) of 20.8 mm.

Therefore I can fit the bearing + the shield OR the bearing + the circlip. But not all three.

The old bearing was also 20.8 mm thick.

????
If the bearing was too thick surely the inner circlip would not fit?

Of course with the bearing on the shaft it would be tricky to get the shield off now as well.

Any ideas?

[Craven]

The shield should not occupy a space between the bearing inner and the shaft shoulder, there is a step of larger diameter equal to thickness of the shield to accommodate it.

[vincereynard]

The shield should not occupy a space between the bearing inner and the shaft shoulder, there is a step of larger diameter equal to thickness of the shield to accommodate it.

The shield is loose on its resess. But the combined width of bearing + shield will not allow the circlip to be fitted!

The gospel of St Brian states - "to cut off the proud part of the rubber seal of the
large rear bearing or you can't fit the circlip and guard."

That make any sense to anyone?

[rgh0]

On some makes of bearing the lip on the rubber seal comes out past the width of the bearing and needs to be cut off. The fit is normally tight and the groove width is normally slightly wider than the circlip so with a bit a tapping to get everything seated you can normally get it to fit in. Make sure the circlip groove has been cleaned out fully as a layer of corrosion or loctite can build up if its been used when fitting previous bearings

I measure the width of the outer race of the spare FBJ inner rear bearing I have at 20.93 mm so your bearing sounds to be the right width. It does not have the seal lip that needs to be cut off

If I remember correctly on one occasion I have had to hammer carefully the outer edge of the shield to reduce it thickness fractionally so i could get the shield and bearing to fit.

cheers
Rohan

[alan.barker]

You need to trim the Seal a little with a new blade to let the dust shield seat correctly. This will allow the Circlip to be fitted easier. I think this is mentioned in the Wokshop Manuel .
Good luck and i hope this will solve the problem
Alan

[vincereynard]

Thanks for the replies.

There does not appear to be any lip on the bearings I have as the shield "seems" to fit snuggly against it.

A difficulty with this sort of problem is that once the bearings on the shaft they are difficult to remove without destroying them. Same with a trial fit in the hub.

[alan.barker]

You could just try the bearing and dust sheild only, which is very easy to remove with no shaft.
Alan

[Craven]

Nominal size given for depth of bearing is 21mm, if all other factors are ok then a good machine shop can surface grind your circlip to fit.
I have measured some old circlips thickness they are about 2mm so there is the possibility a new circlip could be selected to suit. Lotus may have done this.

[vincereynard]

You could just try the bearing and dust sheild only, which is very easy to remove with no shaft. Alan

Unfortunately -

Nominal size given for depth of bearing is 21mm, if all other factors are ok then a good machine shop can surface grind your circlip to fit.
I have measured some old circlips thickness they are about 2mm so there is the possibility a new circlip could be selected to suit. Lotus may have done this.

I went down to a bearing trader company and got a selection - all were bigger than 2mm! Drat.
Good idea - I'll have a word with a chap down the road with a machine shop. Perhaps also face the bearing surface in the hub to ensure it is clean and flat.

[Craven]

Not sure if this will help, these measurements were taken with cheap digital calipers but circlip ones taken with my trusted imperial micrometer. It would seem your leg is not bored deep enough.
Depth from circlip groove.
Leg 1 21.34
Leg 2 21.27
Leg 3 21.31
Leg 4 21.47 ?
Thickness of circlip.
0.078 inch
0.075
0.082
0.077

[alan.barker]

I wonder if the Bearing has a radius on the corner so it will go to the full depth of the counterbore in the Strut
Alan

[JonB]

Don't forget to put the O rings in those bearing grooves.

http://images.lotuselan.net/lel/52882/0/img_4445.jpg

[vincereynard]

Craven -
Checked with my trusty imperial mic. and circlip is indeed 0.077 thou. Others are 0.090

The shield measures 0.020 > 0.6 mm, As you suggest the bearing housing only seems to be just over 21mm.
So perhaps it is just a touch too small. As I stated earlier I'll get teh tame (ish) machinist to have a play.
We are only talking a very small amount 10 thou maybe?

Alan -
Yep, they do have a small but distinct radius.

John -
I thought one was supposed to take those O rings off as they serve no useful purpose?

[alan.barker]

The "o" rings are for a different car and not Lotus Elans.
Alan

[JonB]

They are fitted on my car... old bearing had one, so I left it in place on the new one. Too late to worry about it now.