[Healeys] Front wheel bearing 'distance piece'

[richard mayor]

In the 80s, when I began seriously racing my '59 BN7, I became aware of the
possibility of stub axles breaking. In my home town, Portland, Oregon we had a
store called FASPEC that parted out many, many Healeys. With the permission of
the proprietor, Stan Huntley, I took every stub axle they had (approximately
20-25) to my machine shop to have them magnafluxed, in an effort to find a few
that were not cracked. I only found two or three that were not cracked. By
1990 I had changed over to  BJ8 stub axles that have a slightly greater radius
at the root and have a separate ring for the seal to ride on. I don't think
the distance piece has anything to do with cracking, or not cracking, at the
root of the early axles. I believe the BJ8 design change with the greater
radius eliminated the cracking problem. Having said this, I think I will have
my spindles crack tested in the very near future.  Richard Mayor



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