400se rear wheel bearings

[Ian V]

Can anyone supply details of the wheel bearings fitted to the rear of a 400SE, and how easy are they to fit. I read somewhere that they are mk2 Granada items, is this right ?

Ian

[GreenV8S]

quote:Can anyone supply details of the wheel bearings fitted to the rear of a 400SE, and how easy are they to fit. I read somewhere that they are mk2 Granada items, is this right ?

Ian

Big, BIG problems fitting them, the hubs are done up to about a million foot-pounds so you need to have God's own socket set plus a twenty foot long bar to undo them (and risk bending the suspension in the process) then they have to be done up tight again and then pinned, glued and then probably welded for all I know when you put them back. Otherwise the wheel falls off in a couple of months time.

[JMorgan]

I had a mate of mine (fitter by trade) come around to undo mine once. His torque wrench what he uses on trucks and 6 foot of scaffold and lots of grunt. They were OK though so reverse was applied. Had to undo them with the wheels on and blocked up.

[shpub]

Covered in gory detail in the Wedge bible. The bearings are easy to get but the second seal isn't and the standard Ford bearings come with only one. You will need a 300 lb Torque wrench, a 6 foot length of scaffold and a 3/4 inch socket set. 1/2 inch ones tend to bend or break. So unless you can beg borrow or steal these you need about 100 pounds plus of tools before you start.

If this is not done correctly, the rear wheel can (and has) come adrift and you can damage the drive shaft splines which are very expensive to replace like 400-500 pnds expensive. Two schools of thought: split pin and loctite. The 520 uses both!

Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk

[350matt]

The bearing is from the old faithfull Ford Mk II Granada (again) and if you can find SKF parts so much the better. You'll need access to a hydraulic press as they need about a ton of pressure to get in and out.

Matt

[JMorgan]

quote:
Also remember that the nuts are left and right hand threads, don't know which side is which though, but it's probably worth finding out before you try to undo them.
Quinny

On mine there are a few threads available for view.

[SEVANS]

The threads on my 83 Tasmin are the same on both wheels, that's why one of the wheels has a tendancy to try and undo the nut. I didn't think they had changed it on the later cars.
regards Steve Evans

[jvaughan]

Pay a garage to do it properly .. not worth the expense in teh tools, and the trouble if it goes wrong.
Plus you have the comeback of being able to shout at someone if the wheel does come off.
I did mine once.. in the end, after breaking two 1/2" sockets (seriously, it was like trying to take a wheel nut off with a 1/4" socket!!), shipped mine off to a dealer who confirmed I was about 150ft/lb off the required 300 or so. Worth the £50 per hour labour.

Jason

[Nacnud]

Here's the damage that happens if you don't catch a collapsed rear wheel bearing in time.

Reckon I was lucky not to have a major drama, but it's all OK now......

[JMorgan]

What happened? Symptoms to look for etc?

[Nacnud]

Believe it or not - I didn't notice anything until I spotted the rear wheel with obvious negative camber (leaning in). It just didn't look right !

Somebody is probably about to tell me that I should have been able to hear something. Not over my exhaust - no way!

Differences in handling; must have been some. But I'm still getting the handling tweaked after the rebuild so I had nothing worth comparing against.

BTW - bearing was new 600 miles ago ! Rumour has it that failure of new bearings is not unheard of.

[Andy390]

How funny i should read this on monday when on saturday,I discovered to my horror that my nearside wheel was doing its best to part company with the car.! (The nut had 'come off' one whole turn)
Yes, okay, there's been plenty of warnings about these hub nuts in all the wedge related chat,and yes i did read Steve Heath Bleating on about how important it is to check this thoroughly (sorry steve!), but i thought,"well i've degreased it, put plenty of threadlock on and i'ts torqued up to the correct amount It'll be fine" Doh!..... From one owner to plenty of others- MAKE SURE YOU USE A SPLIT PIN!.
the annoying thing was that there was a previously drilled hole already there,and it lined up once i torqed the nut up,but i didnt put one in.Oh well you live and learn...
Oh and I didnt feel it in the car either

>> Edited by Andy390 on Monday 1st April 23:46