I wrote something on the subject for TSO about a zillion years ago, but
can't put my hands on it at the moment. The gist of it is that the
strength of the spindle with the original ball bearing and spacer assembly
is derived from the fact that when the spindle nut is tightened correctly
the spibdle, inner races, and spacer are all locked together into what is
in effect a single unit. The strength of the whole assembly is much
greater than the strength of the spindle by itself. The spindle by itself
is pretty weak.
Way back when, converting to tapered roller bearings sans spacer was a
popular modification. The tapered rollers were thought to have a longer
life, and adjustment certainly was a lot easier (just tighten the nut
until the correct end float was achieved). Trouble is, spindles broke.
There is nothing wrong with converting to tapered roller bearings, but you
MUST use a spacer between the inner races. To adjust end float, shorten
the spacer or add shims to lengthen it, as required, and tighten the
spingle nut really tight to lock the spindle, inner races, and spacer
assembly together as in the original ball bearing setup. DO NOT use the
nut to adjust end float.
There is also nothing wrong with using ball bearings as original. If
high-quality bearings of the correct type are used, and if the hubs are
assembled correctly, the bearings will last a long time. A lot of the bad
press surrounding ball bearings was the result of (1) the inferior quality
bearings once supplied by most of the T-Series parts houses, (2) reuse of
collapsed spacers, and (3) sloppy assembly.
On Thu, 20 Jan 2000,
AJChalmers@aol.com wrote to
JTPAKI@aol.com and...:
> Don't even think of using other than ball bearings in the front hubs. Stub
> axles are designed for balls and rollers tended to cause two piece stub
> axles. I can't locate the scholarly treatise on the subject, but if I do I
> shall post.
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