Re:Ball or taper?.

I've not had any problems with excessive bearing wear on Jimnys. I mean, I had one go on a 160,000 mile Jimny, but I don't think that's unreasonable. I've taken 2 other Jimny's past 100,000 miles on 28" tyres without replacing a wheel bearing. I can't say I've noticed any trend on this forum for them to be wearing out prematurely either.

I'd wager that most of the frequent replacements involve wheel spacers, pattern parts fitted with a hammer and a weekly cycle of mud immersion and pressure washing.

Busta, may I suggest you go back to the beginning of this string and reread my opening comments.

Roger

You made the premise that the ball bearings are inferior by design and have a shorter service life. I'm just pointing out that this isn't necessarily accurate. SJs also suffered from accelerated bearing wear in the same conditions. The primary cause of premature bearing failure is water ingress which is a sealing issue and has nothing to do with bearing type.

But as I said in my first reply, echoing Velocette's experience, the SJ bearings are a direct swap so there's nothing stopping you making the swap. Hopefully you'll be good enough to report back after 100,000 miles to let us know if it was worthwhile!

Another plus 100000 miles on the same factory wheel bearings here. And I am off tarmac for significant periods every day and do lots of towing and carrying too.

I remember taper rollers used in motorcycle steering heads (far superior in that particular application) more or less dissappeared in the late 80s. The consensus was (and some bulletins hinted) that because tapers need an early check at 500 miles it was hitting dealers at the so-called free service. Chris

P.W.R.Blake, M.A.(Cantab.), C.Eng.M.I.Mech.E. wrote "The cylindrical roller bearing has extra radial load carrying capacity, therefore longer life than a ball bearing of comparable size".
I started this string based on the proven premise that a taper roller bearing is, size for size, superior to a ball bearing. I had noted that there were a number of members on this forum who had stated that fitting wheel spacers, wider wheels or larger more aggressive tyres and using the motor in a more exuberant manner meant that they needed to replace their front wheel bearings rather more frequently than they thought reasonable. On my SJ413 the set up was 2 taper roller bearings per hub, assembled in the normal manner with a nut and lock nut to adjust the pre-load. Lubrication was by grease with a standard twin lipped oil seal. I drove that car on lanes the length and breadth of the UK from the most northerly tip of the Shetlands to deep into Cornwall. The car was used hard but not abused and I never destroyed a wheel bearing or had one damaged by water and yes I have my own pressure washer. I note that some of you have achieved high mileages on standard bearings but I also note that they appear to be on unmodified motors, which means that they are outside of the parameters I set.
My point still stands, a taper roller bearing is superior to a ball bearing, all other parameters being equal.
Now, having got that lot of my chest, I asked a perfectly reasonable question regarding using the hub from an SJ and grafting it onto a Jimny, or, can someone supply me with the dimensions of the ball race on the Jimny.
Thank you.

Roger