Rear wheel bearings and brakes

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Murrayminor
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Rear wheel bearings and brakes

Post by Murrayminor »

I had to use my brakes in anger on my minor 1000 yesterday when a stupid person decided to reverse onto the main road without stopping.
Anyway my car lurched to one side so I thought I better have a look at the brakes.
I began at the rear as I wanted to re hang the exhaust whilst I had the car up in the air.
So I removed the drum to find the new looking shoes soaking wet, I did a bit of investigation and I think the oil is coming from the axle tube.
I have ordered a new bearing,shows,seals,screws etc but while I have it apart is there anything I can check to ensure the seal will do its job?
I noticed when I removed the bearing there didn't appear to be the black seal inside the bearing, is this normal I cannot see how the axle will stay oil tight without the black seal.
Proud owner of my first Morris Minor
philthehill
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Re: Rear wheel bearings and brakes

Post by philthehill »

The seal is separate to the bearing and fits first into the hub, then the bearing.
Not all hub seals are black rubber it could be a metal encased seal.
A photo of what you have would be appreciated.
Make sure that the lip seal is the correct way round with the lip seal spring facing the bearing.
Check that the drain hole in the rear of the brake back plate is clear - if not any excess oil will get onto the shows.
The location of the drain hole is indicated on the attachment.
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img195.jpg
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Murrayminor
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Re: Rear wheel bearings and brakes

Post by Murrayminor »

philthehill wrote: Tue Oct 30, 2018 10:11 pm The seal is separate to the bearing and fits first into the hub, then the bearing.
Not all hub seals are black rubber it could be a metal encased seal.
A photo of what you have would be appreciated.
Make sure that the lip seal is the correct way round with the lip seal spring facing the bearing.
Check that the drain hole in the rear of the brake back plate is clear - if not any excess oil will get onto the shows.
The location of the drain hole is indicated on the attachment.
That's great thanks, After I had sent the above post I saw the seal.
It seemed the correct way round with the spiral facing the diff.
I think the issue may be due to some imperfections on the axle tube itself.
I will give it a clean up with some emery paper and refit the new bits when they arrive.
Thanks again
Dermot.
Proud owner of my first Morris Minor
taupe
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Re: Rear wheel bearings and brakes

Post by taupe »

Murrayminor wrote: Wed Oct 31, 2018 4:42 pm
It seemed the correct way round with the spiral facing the diff.

Dermot.
The spiral or lip should face out towards the bearing as on the pic attached above, not towards the diff....
Murrayminor
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Re: Rear wheel bearings and brakes

Post by Murrayminor »

taupe wrote: Wed Oct 31, 2018 5:25 pm
Murrayminor wrote: Wed Oct 31, 2018 4:42 pm
It seemed the correct way round with the spiral facing the diff.

Dermot.
The spiral or lip should face out towards the bearing as on the pic attached above, not towards the diff....
Ah ha, that will explain the problem then.

This forum is worth its weight in gold.

Thanks again.
Dermot.
Proud owner of my first Morris Minor
philthehill
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Re: Rear wheel bearings and brakes

Post by philthehill »

I am interested to learn what you consider is the spiral?
img194.jpg
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Murrayminor
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Re: Rear wheel bearings and brakes

Post by Murrayminor »

I would call the spiral or spring the indented side of the oil seal.
So from the above information and diagram I can see the spring/spiral side of the oil seal should face the outside of the vehicle or towards the brake drum.
I can now see this part is called the rear hub oil seal.
Proud owner of my first Morris Minor
pgp001
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Re: Rear wheel bearings and brakes

Post by pgp001 »

The diagram above is slightly misleading to anyone who is unfamiliar with the rear hub and axle assembly, as it does not show the axle tube.

The lip of the seal does not touch the half shaft as shown, but runs on the plain tubular spigot on the end of the axle casing. Any oil that gets carried down the outside of the half shaft from the diff will end up inside the hub and act as a lubricant for the hub bearing, the purpose of the oil seal is to prevent the oil escaping out of the back of the hub and onto the brakes, the gasket and O-ring are there to stop oil escaping at the front of the hub where the half shaft fits.

The thickness of the paper gasket is critical when refitting it all together so that the bearing is retained without any end float.

Phil
philthehill
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Re: Rear wheel bearings and brakes

Post by philthehill »

At the end of the day the illustration is only a schematic to indicate and confirm the correct orientation of the oil seal and nothing else. Whilst not to scale it serves its purpose.
The axle tube has no bearing on which way round the seal is fitted.

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