Re***embling my 40 rear and was hoping to reuse the original Henry bearings. One looks ok, the other not so much. I’m ***uming it’s probably best to replace both with new. Question is, what’s the next best bearing on the market to original quality?
From what I have heard; good used original bearings are the best. The repop bearings have a reputation of the end plates of the cages being "soft" and wearing prematurely.
Agree with Rich B above. This has been a problem fo a couple decades now. Ol' Henry was very good at metallurgy, and in todays world I would call Mac at Van Pelts sales to see what his parts are.
Sometimes it's cheaper to buy complete junk drum ***emblies that still have the bearings than to buy the bearings themselves. I would see what Fred @ Southside has to offer. He is top notch.
Make sure to use the correct grease on those bearings. Sta-lube 3131. Not any of this new **** which won't hold up!
What he said. ^^^^^^. Try to find NOS or good used. Also check the inside surface of the hub’s bearing race surface. They can wear unevenly and do not come out. I went through several hubs finding a good one.
You’ll need to have someone turn down the race on the bell on a large lathe then press on a new race.
Don't want to hijack but I have seen ads with races and then some that say their "hardened" races are long lasting. That would be a bit harder to turn down once pressed on, no? I have a lathe that I think could do it. D
The issue I ran into on my 32’s rear end was worn internal hub races. I had several sets in my stash to go through until I found two good hubs. There were those that showed no wear and those that had an hills and valleys type of wear that looks like the entire bearing never rotated in the hub, only the individual rollers rotated in just one spot their entire life., maybe seizing on the axle housing end. Good luck! PS: I am talking about the internal race of the hub, for the OD of the bearing, rather than the external race on the axle housing end for the ID of the bearing. Both need to be in good condition or your new replacement BEARING may suffer. Yours may be in great shape. If so, forget everything I said.
Good info from @hotrodA. For the Axle tube, John Connely of columbia two speed makes the best hard repair sleeves. It takes good tooling to cut them undersize, and a lathe big enough for the perch to swing. @Mart has a video on it. Sleeves in the hub is new news to me. Also remember if using a 35/36 housing they can be flipped over to put the load on the virgin side.
Welding a couple of beads across the internal race may possibly shrink it enough to get it out without cutting. Maybe...
Don’t do this. The race is part of the hub housing, it won’t come out. I have no idea what hotrodA is talking about, since the rear races aren’t replaceable.
Sorry, I probably got mixed up between the replacement sleeves for the housing end and the hub. As far as I know and based on what I found there is no replacement race for the inside of the hub, i.e. the outside surface for the roller bearing. @alchemy is 100% correct. Sorry for creating the confusion. Old age is a *****. Corrected the post. Thanks!
The Jalopy Journal
