Duff TR7 front bearings? Opinions please!

[Colin Lindsay]

Morning all... I'm looking for a bit of constructive comment on my TR7 front bearings, mostly to determine if I was too heavy-handed or were they just duff?

I bought these on-line in around February, two kits with all bearings, grease, and rubber seals. There was no brand name on the box, nor country of origin, but they were from a reputable suppliers. I fitted the hubs to the axles on Wednesday and tightened them, but not fully into place until I could check the correct procedure, just in case the TR7 differs from any other Triumphs I'm familiar with. Whilst they were on the car I noticed one of the wheel studs was stripped so decided to replace it, and took the nut off the hub. On pulling the hub it jumped forward quite easily about a half-inch but then refused to move, so I had to rock it by hand until it came off the axle. Whilst working on it I noticed the rubber seal was distorted and the innards had come out; further inspection showed the roller bearings all loose in the hub. It was only then I realised that the inner bearing had come apart and the hub had pulled off over the remains of the bearing, still on the shaft. The rocking required was to pull the bearing through the seal whilst the initial half-inch of movement was the bearing pulling apart and moving until it hit the seal - there's about half an inch between them inside the hub. I'm not Arnold Schwarzenegger so it was light pulling by hand only, since I was expecting it to slide off easily. I'm almost convinced they're rubbish bearings, if they'll fall apart before the car even hits the road and on light pulling off the axle, but input from mechanical gurus out there is very welcome in case I've made an elemental mistake, and before I destroy the next set.... any thoughts?

 

 

 

 

[Pete Lewis]

think youre correct  poor design of the bearing  that should never happen unless the inner track has seriously attached the the stub

and its dragged off under load

all stubs and bearings should be a hand push fit so they can rotate in use .  and be   REMOVED easy    

sorry unbranded junk

pete

[hugh]

Sorry rubbish bearings never had that with any of my tr7's always slid off stub axle and left bearings and seal in the hub

[Colin Lindsay]

Must be! I even greased the stub axle to help them slide on. Now I'll have to replace both sets, just to be sure....