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MG TD TF 1500 - MGTD front bearing removal

Good day to all,
I am still a little confused on how to remove the bearings from my TD front hub. I looked at LaVerne Downey's videos for the TF tapered bearing conversion. He used a drift to drive out the original inner bearing. However, on my hubs, the inner bearing, the spacer and the outer bearing are all lined up exactly and there is no edge to set the drift against. It looked like on the video, that he put the drift in at a slight angle, apparently to catch an edge of the bearing. I don't have anything for the drift to drive against. Are the hubs on the TD and TF exactly the same? Advice?

Thanks,

Jim
JV Smith

the spacer in the middle will push sideways and give you room to drift out.
Ray TF 2884
Ray Lee

There are two small, half-moon-shaped hub cut-outs into which you can fit your long punch to remove the inner bearings. With the other parts place they may be difficult to see, but the ARE there, and will enable you to go from side to side, and remove the bearing.

Tom Lange
MGT Repair
t lange

Here is what you are looking for.

L E D LaVerne

If you're replacing the bearings then you can just hammer them out from the center races. Be sure to hammer evenly, going from one side to the other and inch it out slowly. You don't want to distort or wear the hub itself, which is not as durable as the bearing.
Steve Simmons

Also if the race is not going to be reused weld a bead around the bearing surface and it will fall out when it cools.
Len Fanelli
Len Fanelli

thanks for all of the good comments. I am missing something, however. I still have both bearings and the spacer in the hub. I can neither see or feel the "cutouts" since the two bearings and the spacer are virtually flush with each other, leaving a smooth bore. I can move the spacer slightly to the side, but it is not enough to get a "bite" on the bearing. I have tried various drifts trying to catch that edge. I found a screwdriver with a hardened tip, but even that would not catch the edge enough to move the bearing at all.

Thoughts?

Jim
JV Smith

as you are replacing the bearings, give the inner section a tap with a hammer. The spacer will then slide side ways easily giving access to the cut outs,
When replacing them make sure you have the spacer the right way round to suit the bearings.
Ray TF 2884
Ray Lee

Thanks to everyone for the help. I was beginning to think I am losing my deductive reasoning. Everyone's explanation sounded so simple, but I just couldn't find the space everyone was talking about. The spacer was only moving a fraction, and there just wasn't any room to get a drift in. Once I took Ray's advice and created a little more space by tapping on the spacer from the inside, it moved aside enough to get access.

However, this is what I did. I inserted a long, high impact socket that was just smaller than the inner diameter of the spacer. Since the spacer is tapered, I was able to drive the spacer and the outer bearing out. Once the outer bearing is out, the inner one is easy using the procedure previously described.

Is there any problem using the spacer to drive out the outer bearing as I have described?
Thanks for all your help,

Jim
JV Smith

I would not hit the spacer as it is precisely machined to give the correct pre-tension on the bearings (at least it was when made in the 1950's)
As for taper bearings, un less you familliar with them I would stick to standard ball races, mine have done over 120,000 miles and besides re-greasing when doing brake maintenance have not been touched.
Always use the best you can get, I use SKF when possible
Ray TF 2884
Ray Lee

This thread was discussed between 15/07/2020 and 17/07/2020

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