tweetyduck

thanks. I'll do that. report back soon.

right at the top of the drop arm theres a nice deposit of black shiny gunk. Advice appreciated. What to do?

any idea how much they are ? Are they just like new ? Thanks

Now i need to go and look....yep installer number 4.... I have the full set btw in the nice briefcase. Although one's been used as a chisel and another is bent all my tools are complete.

to be honest i'd convinced myself i'd need a new one as i was sure i'd screw it up. In fact there was no damage to the bearing seat at all. The wheel bearings had minimal nicks when i did those but this was nothing. I wiped it with a workshop wipe and they normally snag on any nicks. There were none. Visual inspection showed zero. I wasn't careful but it may just have been luck with my bent #2 screwdriver (kudos to White!) Thanks for all the advice,,, which made me go for it. Now i've just got to sort out that knackered swivel bearing.

:angry: if i could swear i would.... the second side was going to plan only to come to an impass of biblical proportions. I put in the top swivel pin and it was too tight so i needed to remove it to fit some more shims. Couldn't get the damn pin back out. 1 hour and 45 mins later... i decide to remove the plate and swivel seal, remove the bottom pin, remove the bottom bearing and see the top bearing is completely knackered. It must have been damaged when fitting the top pin. I manage to manouver the swivel housing free in a shower of bearings. So now i have top pin with an stuck fast bearing runner and a shagged bearing. Need to go to the shop again tomorrow and get another pin and bearing. I just hope the other side isn't the same. It seems to move freely and the tension is now corrected. At least i might have one side done.

Only a Railway man, PO man or BT man.....knows his ofcom (oftel in those days) approved tools.

thanks. 4 bolt = 4 bolts...simples.

@PS_Bond Yeah my nearside hub nuts required three extension bars to make it about 3 feet long. The box spanner slipped off more than once and i was swearing more than normal for the 30 mins it took to remove it.

does this have a direct replacement? Got confused with all the, this bolt and that bolt. Which one is this? Thanks N

OK its done. 10 min job. Seal goes in with tensioning spring downwards. Bearing goes words/manufaturer upwards. Use the old bearing to knock in both the seal and new bearing. I slit it and removed the pins/cage to assist in this as per the ones i did for the wheel bearings. Easy job. nothing to it. This is the tools i used.

they just said 45mins so i said "no thanks". I've got the parts so i'm going to give it a try. Worse case is the entire thing and all the parts is £54 which i can then put together. Putting it together is easy. Taking it apart is more challenging. Will let you know.

Thanks Aragorn. Just checked the swivel seals and they were bagged Britpart FTC3401G OEM. So they should be good. Just a thought but surely when you fist install them with no shims they would be really tight so you add shims. Therefor its going to be at least 4kg at the beggining and then eventually correct. I'll give them a check anyhow.

Unfortunately Britpart. one side is fine but not finished yet. I'll reset the tight side tomrrow. Surely i need to add shims to lower the Kgs?

I'm off to the dealer tomorrow to see what the rip off would be.....watch this space. If its more than £40 ie. parts and 15mins labour i'm going to try myself. Bent screwdrivers, i have ! Thanks all...this looks like a tricky one.

sorry but i can't believe they're damaged at that load. Not driven and no load on them other than the setup. I'm sure the stresses on bearings are more than 4.5kg when driving. Is your statement based on anything? If it is, i'll change them.

Thanks Aragorn. I;ve checked the RAVE and you're of course correct. I need to get that set a bit lower. The Haynes says 4.5kg but they seem to do it on the bench before refitting so i've cocked up,,,,,,,,

The haynes says take it to too the dealer. Can i do it myself and if so how?

thanks Soren. I'm going to mess around as i think what you say is the likely cause. another member has also suggested i spin it about 90 degrees to see if the issue moves. This is what i'm going to do. If that fails i'll have to do it all again.

just done this myself. Use the old bearing race to knock in the new ones. Cut a slit in the old ones so they go in and come out easy.

Re. post 64 needle bearing. the book says take it to a dealer to change the needle bearing. Is this my best bet? the bearing is £9 so it should be pretty much done in 15mins for someone who knows what they are doing. What do you think?

OK so the swivel i did last week is definately not right. Its like the seal is sitting too near the inside (low on the hemishere) of the vehicle and the whole thing needs pulling towards the outside of the vehicle to make the seal sit a little further up the radius of the swivel ball (higher on the hemisphere). I can't fathom how this is possible? The swivel housing is held in position by the siwel pins and these connect to the swivel ball at the top and lower bearings so it would be impossible to get the seal further up the radius of the ball and so higher up the hemisphere. Anyone got any ideas??????

That super advice thanks. Off to clean it and check it out fully. Fingers crossed.

Thanks Les. I reccon its OK myself, but its nice to get a second and third opinion (any more welcomed!). I'll replace the needles. So long as i decide tomorrow no time will be lost. Should i replace the CV is still on offer.........??? @dantd5

it can't be the seal as i've just changed it along with both bearings and the ball. Everything is new. I set the pull tension to 4.5kg as per the book (although this was difficult to do, due to the inertia) so the top pin shouldn't be to tight.