TheSamba.com :: View topic - Is there a tapered roller bearing conversion for my 57?

Wed Jun 25, 2008 7:50 pm

I am trying to convert my ball bearing front wheel bearings to tapered roller bearings. Are there conversion bearings available for this?

Thanks
Justin

Wed Jun 25, 2008 8:08 pm

Hello-

Inner.

http://www.wolfsburgwest.com/cart/DetailsList.cfm?ID=111405627

Outer.

http://www.wolfsburgwest.com/cart/DetailsList.cfm?ID=111405647

Paul

Tue Jul 08, 2008 5:42 pm

Is there a good reason to upgrade to the tapered roller bearings? Do they roll smoother, have less flex?
I have heard they last longer but my current ball bearings are ok and I am about to install new front brake drums and am wondering if I should get new bearings.

Thanks for any advise you have,

Jeremy

Tue Jul 08, 2008 6:55 pm

I have installed the roller bearing conversion onto other customers former ball bearing cars and I personally wouldn't do it to my own cars, the roller bearings tend to be such an extremely tight fit to the axle that they require some filing to get them to slide onto the axle, even with major filing the inner bearing tends to stick on the axle and pulls the seal out any time the drum needs to come back off, that gets to be a real pain when the bearing has to be pried off and if its really on there the seal can get in the way of removing the stuck bearing resulting in messing up the seal just trying to pry the bearing off the axle, theres just something about the size of the roller bearing inner diameter which is smaller than the ball bearing races, the inner races should not be a loose fit though as it will sometimes spin on the axle stub and wear down the diameter even more, I usually just hand file the axle to get a nice snug but removable fit with the inner ball bearing race then take a nice sharp center punch and make a light dimple in the axle shaft to keep the new bearing race from rotating, with the small ball bearing race it doesnt matter if it stays on the axle it will not pull the seal off every time you pull the drum,

I have several ball bearing cars known to have over 100,000 miles on the bearings, just keep your balls clean and serviced and avoid water puddles deeper than the axle seal and they will last virtually forever

I believe that roller bearings have a higher weight rating than balls and they will "last longer" maybe "forever-plus", I think they also require less precise adjustment than the ball bearings do but I just don't care for the way any of them seem to fit the axle, there may be variations between manufacturers available but its almost like you are trying to fit a part made in inches to a metric car, which is probably what the problem is