Hi all,

My live axle 1999 model failed its mot on a number of issues, one of which relates to excessive play in both front top suspension mount pins near the shock absorber mount.

I have checked a number of times with the car on the ground and up on the jack and find NO play at all so disagree with the tester however there is play from the hub area with the wheel on in an up/down motion. It's a bit disconcerting that a tester can get the area wrong albeit there is excessive play.

I have removed the dust cap (I guess they are one use only, what a nightmare to remove) removed the split pin and the nut could be removed by hand!

Is this normal, how tight should the nut wheel bearing be? There is a part number stamped 03062 on it.

Cheers

Ah, yes, a classic...
The bearing is a taper bearing, so needs to be tightened until you feel a fair bit of resistance, and then backed off one castilation.
All a bit 'rule by thumb', but that should remove the wheel movement.

If you really want to get technical you can skim the fitted washer to get the perfect almost zero end float, but I never bothered with that.

Without want to upset the old tradition of doing up your cart wheels with a bit of slack, modern bearing materials respond much better to having a little pre-load. The pre-load helps spread the forces across more rollers and extends the life of the bearing.




Caterham (when you talk to the right people) recommend 8 NM on a new bearing, however it should be less on a bearing that has run-in. I would apply 8 NM (and that's more than finger tight, but not a lot) as you rotate the wheel, if not aligned with a hole then back it off to the nearest one. No slack or play should be felt.

Good info!