Howdy. So my pass and dri side rear wheel bearings are in sorry shape. I'm pretty mechanically inclined, and not afraid to tackle projects, but word on the street has it that it's very very difficult to properly align the rear wheel bearings as there are two of them and the're both tapered.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Is it doable in your garage at home, or am I better off paying a shop to do it? I really hate to pay mechanics when I can do it myself, but I also hate to start something I can't finish.

Thanks in advance!

 

This gives you an idea of what the job entails

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdNyUeFyh4E

Cheers
DD

 

Dude! This is exactly what I'm looking for.

Thanks man! Lifesaver...

 

Word to the wise, reuse your old shims and spacers. Don't fool with the alignment at all back there. Even the dealers simply change the bearings like on every other car and ship them down the road. Worst part is if the hub does not want to slide off the axle.

 

I could've used that video some time ago... I did my rear wheel bearings without any of the fancy tools.

 

I support Ken Carr on the spacers/shims etc. I once did the rear bearings on an XJ6, and put everything back together as dissembled, and end float was dead-on. I think the spacer is for variations in the hubcarrier machining, when fitting the original bearings , but replacement bearings are made very precisely so the spacer is OK for them too.

 

Further to my last post I noticed Ken mentioned dificulty in sliding the hub and its carrier off the drive shaft (which is splined).

Now on most Jaguars with the IRS this has generally not been a problem, (it wasn't on my 1980 XJ6), but Jaguar at some point started to use Loctite on the splines and this is mentioned in the Series 3 Workshop Manual. Now I am not sure why they should do this, but if no Loctite is used, one can get a clicking noise in certain drive conditions, which no doubt some customers complained about, hence the use of Loctite. Use of this stuff makes it exceedingly difficult to pull off the hub, (obviously !). So a puller has to be used. I have heard the clicking when driving very slowly over a broken bumpy surface, but knowing it was harmless, ignored it.

 

That's very interesting what Frazer mentioned about using "Loc-Tite" on the rear drive shaft into hub bearing splines (as indeed instructed by the shop manual). I removed the hubs (let them drop down off the splines) to take off the drive shafts and remove both stub axles and replace the leaky O rings. Each hub assembly pulled off by hand once I removed the castellated nut and the splines were all greasy! So I didn't bother to clean off the grease I just left them greasy!? I must add that the suspension assembly had been removed by a jag dealer about 3 years prior to replace a bad final drive unit so maybe they goofed? Here's another odd thing, the early hub assembly's had a cap you could remove to squirt grease into the hole but on the 92 xjs I own the hole is no longer there!

 

Jaguar Cars Ltd, and Jaguar owners, managed perfectly OK without Loctite on the splines for at least two decades right up until the 80s; the suspension was introduced on the E-Type Jaguar in 1961 !

I don't know anybody who has ever put Loctite on the splines. I suppose some people got worried about a little clicking noise driving up their rough dirt tracks to the farm or holiday home, so Jaguar Loctited the splines up to stop the noise. As I said, I have heard this clicking noise, but it only occurs when driving on very rough bumpy roads at slow speeds.

 

Truth. One of my hubs must have been removed at some point, because the driver's side basically fell off into my hands when I removed the castle nut. The pass side, I needed to use a puller with He-Man strength applied to it. I won't be using loc tite on reassembly, clicking noises don't bother me when I know what they are.