After my annual car test, I was advised that there was a little bit of excessive play in the front wheel bearings. The tester suggested that they needed to be "tightened up" and felt that a simple notch would do the trick.

Is there a special procedure for tightening up the bearings? I've read various posts over time and if memory serves me right they all seemed to suggest that there was a little more to it than that.

I imagine there is a specific torque setting etc. Any thoughts appreciated.

 

Nothin' special needed. Oh, I'm sure the official manual will have you using dial indicators and microscopes and feeler gauges and consulting a certified wheel bearing guru...but it isn't required on the front bearings.

I nip 'em down until the free play is just gone .....and not an iota more. Others leave just a tiny bit of free play....barely perceptible.

When was the last time the bearings were removed, cleaned, and repacked? Just curious. It's an oft-forgotten item.

The *rear* wheel bearings are tricky to set-up. That's probably what you were thinking of. It requires using spacer shims to end up with xxx-amount of pre-load on the bearing. That is, less then zero free play.

Cheers
DD

 

Ho sogood,

The photos at the links below are of our '93 XJ40, but the X300 is essentially identical. The method I've settled on for adjusting the front wheel bearings is shown. If it's been awhile since you repacked the bearings, it may be a good time to replace them. They're not expensive and are relatively easy to replace:

Welcome to Jag-lovers - Members Photo Viewing Page
Welcome to Jag-lovers - Members Photo Viewing Page
Welcome to Jag-lovers - Members Photo Viewing Page
Welcome to Jag-lovers - Members Photo Viewing Page


Cheers,

Don

 

Many thanks for the advise guys, much appreciated. Thanks to Don for the excellent write up. I'll go ahead and tighten them up but will be ordering new bearings in the meanwhile. Changing them seems pretty straightforward and certainly can't do any harm.

Thanks again.

 

Just an update on the front bearings. I got the replacements and fitted them, with much confidence, thanks to Don B's very useful post. It's a great help to have pictures and plain English to guide you through the processes.

Thanks again.

 

sogood,

Congratulations on completing your front bearing job. Just out of curiosity, did you have any difficulty fitting the rear hub grease seals? Some X300 owners have struggled to get the seal to slide onto the stub axle.

If you didn't have any trouble, other X300 owners might appreciate knowing where you purchased your seal and if it was marked with a brand or part number.

Cheers,

Don

 

Hi Don. I haven't tackled the rears yet, as I thought I'd do the "easy" ones first. And front bearings seemed to be the ones that needed the more immediate attention. The bearings I got from my usual parts supplier who do a lot of the more generic parts and the bearings are Quinton Hazel. The seals that came with the rears are marked as (1) NAK SC 2.250 3.00o 0.375 and (2) NAK TC 60 80 7.5. This is as best as I can make out as it's tiny writing and my eyesight isn't what it used to be.

I won't be tackling the rears any day too soon but I'll keep you posted. I might have a look see at my donor car first as it's a useful way of experimenting without doing any serious damage!

Thanks again.

 

Hi sogood,

I meant the rear grease seals on the front hubs - sorry for the confusion. I'm glad you didn't have any difficulty. NAK is a Taiwan-based Jaguar supplier of rotary shaft seals, so the seals you used are probably what Jaguar is currently supplying for the X300. Do you know what the front hub grease seals were marked?

Cheers,

Don

 

Hi again Don. Latest update on the bearings. The fronts that I used were in fact *** as opposed to the rears which are Quinton Hazel.

The seals on the front went in fairly easily with a little bit of lube and when I fitted the hub and tightened it up, (as fully as possible to start with) I imagine it pushed them back to their fullest extent.

The only markings on the seals were as follows;

4995 Y 49.2 61.5 10.7 3 ASA

Hoping this makes sense and thanks again.

 

Im looking to do my front wheel bearing as well, can you give me a link or point me to the direction for the parts/ seals?

 

Hi FrozenApple,

I've purchased all of my bearings from Coventry West, near Atlanta, and they've shipped me Jaguar original-equipment SKF and Timken bearings depending on the application.

I don't know in which part of Canada you're located, but Welsh Enterprises is in Ohio, SNG Barratt is in New Hampshire, and Jagbits is in California. I'm sure they all ship to Canada, and they offer a discount to forum members.

Cheers,

Don

 

Ohhh yes, i actually ordered a belt kit from coventry west before, it does ship to canada but oh my god the kit was $80 bucks and the import fee was ... $50? lol i'm prob never going to order from there again.

 

You'll probably run into the same import fee when ordering from any U.S. supplier. A lot of our Canadian members inquire about parts sources, and as far as I know, no independent Jaguar suppliers have been reported in Canada. If any of our Canadian members are reading this, perhaps they can offer some suggestions.

Cheers,

Don