MGB-73 Wrote:
Quote: "
I recently did what rrmgb suggested, I just left out the spacer and shims. I actually had a little chuckle thinking how old-fashion they appeared, from back-in-the-day when some things were just done better. I used a new cotter pin with the new bearings and trust that it will secure the nut which holds on the hub/wheel.
Aren't the front hubs/wheels on most cars held on this way, with no spacer and shims?
Is this a bad idea/horror story in the making?
"
To my knowledge, no American cars ever had the spindle design of the British cars. We've rebuilt front ends on our trucks after about 300 thousand miles with no damage to the bearings or race. These are trucks that go off road on many occasions. They don't have spacers and shims. None of the pickups or cars had spacer or shims and never a problem. I know that some of the car and pickup front ends went over 100,000 miles before even being touched. In fact, on the pickups and cars, the axle nut was put on a tad over hand tight, not torqued, just enough to get the cotter pin in. Anybody can say what they want and the point will be argued until your blue in the face but, if it was so important to have the shims and spacers, there'd be American cars all over the place where the front wheels fell off! Ain't going to happen! And please don't try and convince me that the British used a inferior steel in their front spindles that required the use of the spacer and shim or the axle would fall off. If the design was so good, then why, with all the federal safety requirements in todays manufacturing of automobiles, isn't the spacer and shim design used ? Because it makes no sense! JMHO.