Lower wishbone bearings - I'm always surprised just how knackered they are every year ......

[Jason Plato]

Just did my annual replacement of lower wishbone bearing and I'm once again amazed at how worn they are. The drivers side one had 3mm of play - this is after about 4K miles

 

the bearings appear to be reasonable quality NKR and at £26 from Caterham you would expect they to be but they do wear ever so rapidly ......

 

Is there a better solution ???

 

here is C7 TOP

Taffia Area Rep

[MikeE]

Dave,

 

Numpty question but seeing as I've now done >4,000 miles how do you check these for play?

 

cheers

 

 

 

R400 Duratec Build and Modification Pictures

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[Englishmaninwales]

Dave, I agree. Mine have to be replaced every year, usually about 5-7k miles, because of wear ☹️

 

malcolm

[Graham Perry]

Dave, Specifically which bit of the wishbone, Do you mean the upright swivel or the bushes at the chassis end ? Going to check mine today as a consequence of this post

[Bricol]

And mines done over 20,000 miles and I've not yet (!) had to replace them . . .

 

Bri

[Tony C]

I found the play in mine with the front up on axles stands with both wheels off the ground. Lift up on the wheel; there should be no discernable vertical movement in the lower wishbone bearing. If it goes clonk clonk 🙆🏻

 

BRG Brooklands SV 2.0L Ammo Duratec 😬 It seems that perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to take away. (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

[Jason Plato]

as Tony describes

 

the bearing is on the end of the lower wishbone

 

 

 

here is C7 TOP

Taffia Area Rep

[Unclefester]

How strange......they seem fine on my cars.

 

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds..ooooh hooo hooo!!...

😬 😬Abbey Road Time-Machine *eek*

 

[Rob Walker]

Its just a bad design, the bearing sits horizontal and all the road grit water etc sit on top of it . The abrasive grit just laps away at the bearing till its shot. Could be worth cutting a circular bit of plastic to sit on top of the bearing and act as a dust cover or some form of rubber gaitor?.

[Mick Day]

Interesting . My car had the same bearings in place from production in 1994 to 2003. No problem with MOT & this is a critical test. In 2004 I replace the bearings as a precautionery measure & at the MOT in 2005 I get an advisory. So are the bearings now of a poorer quality????

 

In early 2006 I changed to wide track with new bearings so will be interesting to see what happens for the MOT in June. Last time I checked (2 months ago) no discernable play after 2000 miles.

[Sheds Moderator]

MIne (1.4 kss, 1996 ex race) have been through 1 UK MoT and 2 French ones, no bother. The French guy I got to know as "Monsieur failed wheel bearing" because if there was any more than a gnat's pube of play he'd fail it and send you away to nip it up to the next split pin hole. He never snagged the wishbone bearing.

[Jason Plato]

maybe there is a link between bearing wear and spring rates employed ??

 

would the bearing take more shock loads with 250 / 300 lb springs vs std 150 lb springs ? or does driving in the wet and towing on a trailer fill the bearing with crap ?

 

 

[Paul Formston]

Hi Lads this is a strange one my bearing that didn't get changed with the new wishbone after the crash is fine as is the one in the broken wisebone is fine and my caterham has done 28,000 miles but I do oil them now and again Regards Paul

[I.Mupferit]

I recall seeing in a catalogue a couple of years ago, but can't remember which company, ☹️ some spherical bearing seals that were simply small rubber cups which fitted either side of the bearing before fitting to (in this case) the upright. They were produced for the very reason Rob gives, of preventing grit and water getting into the bearing and burgering it prematurely.

 

I have always been wary of oiling these particular bearings as the grit can then stick to the oil and may just exacerbate the problem by forming an effective grinding paste.

 

I must have a look through my older catalogues to see if I can find them.

 

Brent

 

2.3 DURATEC SV Reassuringly Expensive

R 417.39 😬

 

 

 

Edited by - Brent Chiswick on 30 Apr 2007 09:56:46

[Jason Plato]

😬

 

I have never seen such strong defense of a crappy bearing !!!

 

here is C7 TOP

Taffia Area Rep

[I.Mupferit]

You may well be right and it is a crappy bearing but I've just had a look on the Demon Tweeks site and they do these seals which are like shallow rubber cups bonded to a washer. Might be worth giving them a go as they are only pence (relatively).

 

Brent

 

2.3 DURATEC SV Reassuringly Expensive

R 417.39 😬

[Tony C]

My lower wishbone bearing failure was due to migration of the PTFE liner rather than contamination. I decided to replace the wishbone complete rather than just the bearing because corrosion had pitted the bearing housing giving too much clearance and making the bearing outer race free to rotate.

 

The one on the drivers side is still OK after 46,000 miles, so I guess that mileage is not the only factor.

 

I've now smeared grease on the top to prevent water going in deciding to accept the disadvantage of possible grit contamination.

 

BRG Brooklands SV 2.0L Ammo Duratec 😬 It seems that perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to take away. (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

[I.Mupferit]

Having read this thread, I may just try some of these bearing seals from DT on my own car I think. They are about £1.68 each so probably worth it for peace of mind if nothing else.

 

Brent

 

2.3 DURATEC SV Reassuringly Expensive

R 417.39 😬

[I.Mupferit]

Anybody know the size and thread form of the nyloc nuts on the bottom wishbone bolts from the upright please?

 

Brent

 

2.3 DURATEC SV Reassuringly Expensive

R 417.39 😬

[Nigel Riches]

What you lot need is good old fashioned trunnions, surprised no one has replied on this previously.

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....Runs for cover....................

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers Nigel.

 

1982. 5 speed, clamshells. B.R.G / Ali. The True Colours.

[Irrelevant]

Spherical bearings aren't really designed to work in this application though are they . . .They're typically mounted horizontally and take shock loads in the opposite direction to when they're mounted vertically on a front upright. A typical use would be on the inside of the wishbones rather than rubber bushes.

Normally, well certainly on road cars, you'd use some kind of ball joint which was supported on all sides apart from the one that the fastening came out - e.g. a track rod end.

Spherical bearing tolerances need to be minimal and their linings of the best quality if they're to last on an upright which is constantly stressing a bearing vertically. Poor manufacture would explain why some bearings last ages (the ones that come out good) and others fail quickly (the ones that come out bad).

I wonder if Caterham source bearings from different manufacturers, or of different specs from the same manufacturer? Not saying they do, but it would explain the variation in their lifespan.

 

[Tony C]

I'm pretty sure they're 1/2" UNF

 

BRG Brooklands SV 2.0L Ammo Duratec 😬 It seems that perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to take away. (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

[Paul McKenzie]

Dave,

 

Might be a daft question , but do you have the spacer in place on the upright above the bearing?..I've seen one or two without, and it doesn't half knacker the bearing 😳

 

Paul

[Mick Day]

Might be a daft question, but do you have the spacer in place on the upright above the bearing?..I've seen one or two without, and it doesn't half knacker the bearing

Narrow track wishbones did not use the spacer.

[Kevsta]

Anyone got a piccie of all this?