Sierra rear wheel bearing housings, how easy to make?

[AshG]

if its just a case of getting bearings that will fit the sierra bearing carrier and a different size driveshaft im sure you can get a different bearing. i use a company called LBK. they have never faild to get me bearings in the size i wanted.

if thats not the case i would be looking at machining/casting an upright with bearing carrier ways machined in the hub material effectivly making it all a single piece that the bearing races are pressed into.

[Bonzo]

I have used a company called Bearing Services LTD ( BSL ltd )

They are a national chain & more often than not come up trumphs for obscure bearings.

As Ash has said, it is well woth measuring the OD & length of a bearing, then finding out if one with a smaller or larger ID is available.

Folk probably know this but the numbers etched onto the face of a bearing usually contain the type & size of the bearing

Bearing supplyers are also a good source for oil & grease seals, again the numbers on them are often the type & size

[georgenewman1]

could you not just modiey the upright to accomodate the bearing hub of your choice, i made my own uprights out of plate instead of pipe and the seem to work alrite

[mr henderson]

Originally Posted by georgenewman1

could you not just modiey the upright to accomodate the bearing hub of your choice, i made my own uprights out of plate instead of pipe and the seem to work alrite

Not too sure what you mean there. Do you mean to use plate thick enough so that it could be bored to a press fit for the bearing itself? It might need to be quite thick for that.

Depends on how wide the bearing is (anyone know how wide a Sierra bearing (for instance) is?) but I suppose a piece of really thick plate could be machined to the OD of the bearing and four bolt holes. Then it could be bolted to an upright.

[flyerncle]

Just one thing to be aware of if you make your own hubs,bearing preload.
It will be built into the Sierra hubs,BSL and the likes do bearing carriers but they are possibly meant for radial loads and not axial/sideloads as in motor vehicles.
Ronnie for your own sanity dont think anythng Citroen !( trust me I have been there,1970 till present day).

I have replaced one pair of rear bearings but took no notice of thrust faces etc but I will measure them and post dimensions if you need them.

[Bonzo]

Your not wrong there Paul
Wasted enough of my life working on Citroens

We have more or less decided to go the VW/Audi route if at all possible. Probably a good 12 -18 months away from that stage though

Personally I would opt for some form of hybrid driveshaft but never say never & all that

[mr henderson]

I think the idea of using Sierra outer end components is great, for just one or two cars. If one is thinking of rather more, though, like I am, then solving this problem now, rather than when the supply of Sierra bits dries up, is a good idea.

Also, if a way can be found of making/getting bolt on bearing housings can be found, then it will mean being able to use a complete driveshaft assembly from the donor vehicle, rather than having to get specials made. And that has got to be a good thing.

[Bonzo]

I can certainly see where you are coming from on that one.

An off the shelf / easy to fabricate solution would be ideal.

I have a small foundry near me, they have a small - medium capacity output & will undertake small batch work.

It my prove cost effective to have a small batch of castings made !!
A fair bit of money could be saved if you can provide them with the casting patterns, this is where a good deal of the initial outlay is spent.

Terrill Bros

[mr henderson]

Originally Posted by Bonzo

It my prove cost effective to have a small batch of castings made !!
A fair bit of money could be saved if you can provide them with the casting patterns, this is where a good deal of the initial outlay is spent.

I expect I could probably knock something up without too much difficulty. I hadn't thought of having the castings made, but it's obvious when you think about it.

I think probably the next step is to find out what size bearings my donor would require, then design something around them. I would need to consult whoever was going to do the machining, find out how much extra material they would need onthe pattern to allow for machining the resulting casting to finished size.

[flyerncle]

Maybe not a waste Ronnie,but just enough of a learning curve to put you off for life.

Must agree on the VW/Audi theory,just repaired an auto box on an old A4 and it was tiny probably half the length of manual box,only drawback is the electrics to go with it all stuffed in the floor.