[DeTomaso] Rear Axle Bearings

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

In a message dated 3/31/08 10:25:50 AM, red3644 at hotmail.com writes:


> Has anyone come up with a new or better tappered roller bearing conversion 
> yet?  I'm not convinced it's even necessary if your original items fit 
> right...usually meaning the axle has been resized.  I have my uprights apart now 
> and was just thinking about it.
> 
Mike, you're correct. If the stub-axles have been resized to a correct 
press-fit diameter in ball bearings, the ball bearings are actually better- they 
have lower friction among other things. FWIW, in '98, I converted the right side 
of our car to tapered roller bearings while leaving the left side with ball 
bearings for a comparison, both rear axles having been rewelded and ground to 
correct size. I covered all the details in the POCA news of August '98. Since 
then, I've heard bad things concerning the seals on some conversions but tearing 
mine down every yrear or so, I still see no signs of water penetration over 
10 years and thousands of all-weather miles. I can even drive thru car washes 
with no problem- something exclided from other conversions. So if the seals are 
added in the manner I described- which is NOT a cheap bolt-on but requires 
more machining, they will work like in any other car. Only a few vendors offer 
tapered rollers and the only one I've NOT heard complaints about water damage 
is from Pantera East. Bottom line- resize your axles or buy billet axles, and 
spend the conversion money somewhere else. good luck- J deryke


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