While the Sunbeam was safely up on jack stands and the front wheels off, I thought it would be a good idea to check the front wheel bearings for wear and grease. Wheel bearings support the car’s
weight and allow the wheels to spin smoothly. The outer bearing (above left) had little grease and some lateral play. The bearings ride on the spindle shaft (above right), which looked to be in good shape. Although the bearings seemed serviceable, I decided to replace them as inexpensive insurance.
To start, I removed the bearing races from inside the wheel hub and replaced them with new ones. Races are a wear item because they are in contact with the rollers in the bearing itself. The rollers are the brass colored cylinder shaped objects in the picture above left.
Just below, you can see the old races inside the hub (left). They are like replaceable liners that are slightly cone shaped. They are press fit and need to be pushed out with a hammer. On the right, I am pressing in a new race using a hammer. Rather than hit the race itself and risk leaving hammer marks, I am using the old race in between the hammer and new race to distribute the force of the blows. One can use a special tool, but this method works.
With the races pressed in and new bearings greased, I put on the wheel hub and retaining nut (left, below). Tightening the retaining nut is interesting: too tight and the bearings will be squeezed and fail prematurely; too loose and the front wheel will wobble. The Sunbeam workshop manual advises to use a dial indicator to measure play, that is how much the hub moves in and out. On the right below, the dial indicator tool is set up to measure how much the hub can move relative to the spindle shaft. The specifications, in the manual in the picture background, are measured in thousands of an inch.
With the wheels back on, I am finished with the front suspension.
Sunbeam 