magnumpi wrote:
I had considered it to be wheel bearings, but when they went on my Beetle they never made any noise, just moved back and forth a bit when i rocked the wheel in my hand.

Would i be able to feel it if the rear bearings have gone, i mean like above, not when driving it?

You may not be able to but obviously easy to check and compare rear wheels. I think from memory my 83 one that failed was noticeably 'grindy' when rotated by hand.

Generally I would describe bearing failure as grindy rather than whiney, it should not be high frequency. You get high frequency whine when flat surfaces get rough and touch each other (like a crank bearing), bearings have balls or rollers, they only grind until they collapse, the surfaces are never stopped with reference to each other like in the crank.

I've decided, or finaly accepted that this noise is the front wheel bearings, as it is getting a lot louder now when pushing it into corners suggesting the side load is causing this.

With that in mind i will need new bearings and this is where you lot can come in.

Simple as this really, what bearing manufacturers should i use and who should i avoid, unless they are still Volvo obtainable?

Cheres gents

Try to confirm by hand first, and also check the adjustment, but it is probably gone by now if its grinding on corners.

I heard other recommend Timkins, but as a person who is usually concerned about brand quality, I do not normally worry too much about bearings (and brake disks/drums). These are very basic technology and easy to get right, having said that fakes are much more in the press these days and people continually think up ways of ripping people off, so buy from a known 'retailer' rather than ebay confused 'private' sellers is a basic step you can take.

Its normally just the outer that is gone, but replace the track aswell. A very quick bodge if the track looks ok is the just replace the bearing (15-20 min job), of course you will need a new bearing if that fails later, but I've done it once on a car to get me going quickly, lasted a few years before scrapping anyway.

If you run anything but stock wheels, Timkin. SKF and Fag are good, but Timkin just seem to have a different surface hardening process (well, so says their rep) but they really do last longer on Fake) Mac has posted up the part numbers before, get the inner and outer bearing and the oil seal. New stake nuts are still avail from Volvo for 3 quid each (yes, you do need it)

Plus, every train from the 60's can't be wrong