Delberts Wallet Posted October 19, 2001 Share Posted October 19, 2001 I'm not a happy bunny sad.gif. Last night after meeting Sid Spalding in Oxford not 2 miles from starting out the rear near side wheel bearing decided that it had had enough. What worries me is that in January when I bought the car from Caterham the same bearing failed on the way home, but was fixed under warranty by Classic Carrage. This was approx 7000 miles ago (and 1 track day). Could there be a funametal problem with this side of the car if so what should we be looking at? Any Ideas wound be great 'cause I don't want to have this trouble again in 7000 miles time. Cheers Gareth PS A big thanks to Sid for rushing to my assistance I hope I didn't spoil your evening too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHRIS CLARK Posted October 19, 2001 Share Posted October 19, 2001 Overstressed by damper settings? Hope not!!! Good luck with the 'fault' tracing.Couldn't have just been a bad batch could it? After all, that would give some reason to the premature failures (as this bearing could conceivably be from the same lot as the first short lived one)) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Martyr Posted October 20, 2001 Share Posted October 20, 2001 You should be looking at the failed bearings and the housing to find evidence of distress. You need to see the body to comment. Has the cage failed or is there sign of blueing on the rollers? If this is a de-dion car the bearings are double tapered assembly post loaded by the hub nut. It is a faily massive and stiff set up and it is difficult to see what subtle misalignment of its support system could cause it to fail. I would look for lubrication error, too much grease or too little or dirt. Then I would look at signs of roller skid leaving flats on some of the rollers which could indicate wrong pre-load. I would look for signs that the outer or inner races have been turning in the housing or on the shaft. You need to do a complete dimensional check of the system if nothing obvious is found. I would probably replace the housing in that case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFA Posted October 20, 2001 Share Posted October 20, 2001 There have been problems of preload on the bearing housings. They used to be machines so there was slight play in the bearings, so I guess its not impossible you have a bearing housing that has to little play (i.e binding) If they changed just the bearing and not the housing before, this would expalin two similar failures over a short period. Fat Arn The NOW PROVEN R500 Eaterid=red> See the Lotus Seven Club 4 Counties Area Website hereid=green> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delberts Wallet Posted October 20, 2001 Author Share Posted October 20, 2001 Chris. I don't think that it's a bad batch because the first bearing was possibly 2 years old. Arnie/Tony. The car is currently at Arrowstar for inspection so I'll speak to them Monday to see what they find. If it appears that the bearing(s) had failed due to incorrect fitting do you think I'd have a case against Classic carrige/Caterham Midland? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Wong1697456877 Posted October 21, 2001 Share Posted October 21, 2001 Personally I don't. Bearing failures are not rare in Sevens ( and easy to fix). They should last longer than 7000 miles but are easy to replace. You would not be able to prove whether the whole bearing, including the shell, or just the bearing was replaced. In any case, It's reasonable to replace just the bearing if the shell looks fine. If it fails repeatedly, then replace the whole thing. I'd personally have taken my car to Derek rather than Arrowstar.... but I guess all dealers have skeletons. If you ask Arnie, he'd tell you that the same apllies to engine tuners! smile.gif Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delberts Wallet Posted October 21, 2001 Author Share Posted October 21, 2001 Alex, I've never had any problems with Arrowstar in the past, but I've never really got on with Derek since he looked down on me and the wife for having "only" 15K to spend on a 7! And then when he repaired the wheel bearing he said that he would never have sold a Caterham in this Condition (ie high milage with the odd chip in the paint work)...snob! wink.gif As you say it a personal thing. Cheers Gareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Martyr Posted October 21, 2001 Share Posted October 21, 2001 Gareth, We would be interested to know what error had been made in the fitting of the bearings - its the only task that is displayed in the Caterham build manual with a decent diagram! There is no cost effective way of taking a claim to any conclusion but if an agent can make an error it would be useful to learn what it was. Both tapers the same way round or what!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delberts Wallet Posted October 26, 2001 Author Share Posted October 26, 2001 Just to keep you updated and to ask a couple of questions. The car is still at Arrowstar (in bits) and they have some quieries regarding some bits. Firstly the de-dion ears are thinner than normal, Secondly there is a shim between the ear and the bearing carrier and last of all the bearing carriers it wider (deaper) than normal. Has anyone out there come across this before (caterham aren't forth-coming with info at the mo!) I'm intersted to hear what anyone has to say as this is a factory built car which was owned by Caterham Cheers Gareth Who Dares Twins smile.gifsmile.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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