Sperical bearings for front bottom sus joint

[Billyboy]

OK I have as already posted an advisory on this on the first MOT after 5000 miles ☹️

 

So I have ordered them and they have arrived from CC

 

BUT

 

I read they are different for wide track / narrow track

 

I have an 04 SV R300 The bearings supplied come with a Circlip

 

SO

 

Should I have ordered for wide track 🤔 CC are now closed and wanted to get it done asap

 

Cheers

 

Bill

[Irrelevant]

Bearings are the same. Widetrack uses a spacer. Both need circlips for the spherical bearing.

[shn7]

As per Adam's coment, that's my understanding.

 

Steve.

Sussex (West) AO

Not forgetting Percy the Polar Bear

[Billyboy]

So mine should have the spacer then, as long as bearings are the same ❗

 

thanks guys!

 

Bill

[Johnty Lyons]

Just don't forget the Locktite Bearing seal and let it cure before you lower the car onto the bearing as that tends to force the bearing out of the lower arm.

Youll find once youve removed the circlip that youll need a press to force the old bearing out BUT the new one if offered up dry will just fall in Thats why you need the bearing seal. 😬

 

jj

N.I. L7C AR 🙆🏻

Membership No.3927.

 

[Billyboy]

OK the bearings are now changed BUT I had to drift the bearings back in using an appropriate size socket. I am assuming there may be a small amount of surface corrosion, causing the tight fit. Also the circlip provided by CC to secure the bearings in is a very bad fit and needs much jiggling and pushing to get it located!

 

The most difficult part was putting the 4 washer/spacers back in on the inbord rear bushing/chassis WHAT A PAIN IN THE 🙆🏻

 

I was trying to get it all done for the MADS meet But I was just too slow ☹️ Will I ever get there.....................

[millsn]

Being in the pricess of the same activity I would now recommend to anyone doing this not to bother tyring to drive out the balljoint unti lthey've left it for a day with 3 in 1 oil on. Thing suddenly become very easy once this is done. I also tried WD40 which had nothing like the same effect.

[Paul Formston]

What are you lads doing to theses bearing my caterham has done 32,000 mile in to years and there is no play in the bottom sperical bearing Regards Paul

 

 

[Paul McKenzie]

Paul,

 

They often lose/forget about/don't even realise the spacer 😳

 

Paul

[millsn]

Mine had play in it that surfaced very recently. Once I got the wishbone off it was clear that the bushes were shot too. As such I have embarked upon replacing the lot and repainting the wishbones which have done >30K. My car is 15 years old now after all.

 

[Jason Plato]

metion has been made of "the spacer" on other threads relating to the spherical bearings in the lower wishbone.

 

Could someone please post a picture of the spacer or an acurate decription of where should be installed

 

Ta

 

dave

[stevefoster]

The spacer goes on the bottom of the upright and thus sits on the upper surface of the spherical bearing. Make sure they are still there when you pop the rabbit down the hole.

 

or in Caterham speak, from my build manual...

 

"In order to retain the camber compensation in roll achieved with standard Seven front suspension the effective height of the widetrack upright needs to be increased. This effected by fitting a spacer (16mm I.D., 3/4" O.D., 8mm high) onto the bottom of the upright before fitting into the lower wishbone. All other features are as standard De Dion front suspension and the following instructions should be followed"...

 

 

 

Hants (north) / Berkshire club here

Area meeting pics here

My Racing here

 

[Paul McKenzie]

Non-widetrack has the spacer too, at least on '96 chassis

 

Paul

[Casbar]

My narrow track car doesn't have a spacer, its a 98 chassis, or if there is one, I missed it, when I did my bushes last year

[shn7]

Paul, I think you have an anomoly there

 

Steve.

Sussex (West) AO

Not forgetting Percy the Polar Bear

[Jason Plato]

OK

 

So how does this spacer/bush change the distribution of load placed upon this bearing ?

 

as I see the bush is principly there to compensate for suspension geometry chnage. The forces acting on the bearing are exactly the same and are placed on the bearing in exactly the smae manner over the same surface area .

 

can anyone explain 🤔

 

here is C7 TOP

 

[Paul McKenzie]

Jan '96 Build Manual

 

Section 5A 4.3 Front Upright Attachment. "Slide the special spacer (Part no. 71302) on to the bottom of the upright, and slot the upright into the spherical joint of the lower wishbone"

 

Doesn't look like an anomaly to me

 

Remember also this was in pre-widetrack days, so it looks like for some reason (maybe the relocation of the top wishbone mounting post '96), CC decided this was only needed for wide-track - I'm guessing however, and probably the only guy who could answer (Jez Coates) has moved to pastures new

 

Paul

 

Edited by - Paul McKenzie on 2 Aug 2007 20:55:23

[shn7]

Fariy Nuff

 

Steve.

Sussex (West) AO

Not forgetting Percy the Polar Bear

[Casbar]

I've just had another look at my front uprights, and I don't seem to have any spacers, the bottom of the wishbone just sits in the bearing

[Alex Wong1697456877]

Mine doesn't have a spacer - '97 widetrack - but I do have two spacers that I got from CC.

 

Doesn't look like there would be much thread for the nut to go on if I fitted them?

 

The nut is turned on one end to fit into the bearing. Does the spacer do the same on the upper surface of the bearing? In otherwords, is it inside the bearing and not visible? I guess it could be stuck to on the upright and I've never noticed it?

 

Edited by - Alex Wong on 3 Aug 2007 09:07:16

[Paul McKenzie]

Alex,

 

I think the spacer sits on the bearing, not inside it. I'm not near the car now, but ISTR it's very difficult to see whether it's there or not unless you know what you're looking for. I'll check when I'm home and correct if necessary.

The retaining nut is another 'special' ...a half-nyloc which as you say is turned at one end to fit inside the bottom of the bearing housing in the wishbone.

 

Paul

[millsn]

I got recommended to fit a spacer (which I have not yet fitted) by Freestyle when I asked them what would be my next sensible upgrade. As such I'm pretty sure it is not standard fit for a 1992 car and it was added in later years. I would offer that it probably came with 96 suspension

[Jason Plato]

so how does the spacer stop the bearing wearing out 🤔

 

here is C7 TOP

 

[Paul McKenzie]

Dave,

 

Don't know the answer to that , but I've just taken a look at mine and I would say the following;

 

The spacer 'lifts' the upper wishbone such that it is perfectly horizontal and parallel to the lower wishbone.

 

Likewise the upright is pefectly vertical, which I don't think would be the case without the spacer.

 

The spacer loads the surface of the bearing evenly, which would not be the case without the spacer since the part of the upright which would then rest on the bearing is uneven (unlike the spacer), and the upright would not be perfectly upright IYSWIM.

 

In summary, I think it's there for a purpose at least it was for the '96 chassis pre-top suspension mounting change, but I have no idea what has been specified since.

 

Paul

[Tony Whitley]

How thick is this spacer? I've just changed the bearing in mine (96 chassis, narrow track) and there's no way I could fit something more than a few thou and still be able to fit the circlip. I really don't see that having any effect on the suspension geometry. The "special nyloc" is a bit of a mystery too, leading me to think the later suspension must be different.

 

For anyone else trying this I pressed the old bearing out using a ball joint splitter with a nut as spacer, after soaking in penetrating oil overnight. Came out easily even though it may have been in there for 65k miles. And although the bearing was worn, the real problem was that the bolt through the inboard end of the lower wishbone wasn't tight, allowing the whole thing to move slightly as if the wheel bearing/spherical bearing was worn