[TR] Front Bearing Felt Seal

[Randall]

> When I installed Uncle 
> Jack's stub axles he specifically told me to install it with 
> the felt pointing toward the vertical link/engine.

That's right.

> One of the 
> guys in the Forum quoted Bentley & Haynes that said the felt 
> goes against the bearing.

I would like to know the reference (page & version) for that; as I believe
it must be a misinterpretation or misprint.  I have a somewhat later version
of the Haynes (copyright 1987) in my hands, chapter 11, section 2, paragraph
13 reads "Seat the grease seal on its spigot of the VL with the felt pad
facing towards the centre of the car."  There is even a diagram on page 196,
Fig 11.2, that shows the steel backing plate for the felt separately, and
closer to the hub than the felt itself.  

And that same sentence and diagram can be found in the Brooklands reprint of
the Owners Workshop Manual (copyright 1993).

> I emailed Tony Drews and Tony came 
> up with Pros and Cons about doing it either way.

Well, to my mind, the overriding "Con" of doing it wrong is that the steel
backing will rub against the steel face of the VL.  The result is going to
be noise, galling, eventually smoke ... not good things for front
suspensions.

But feel free to try it for yourself <G>

As long as we are on the topic (tho perhaps this has already been thrashed
to death on 6-pack), I believe you should also set the bearing clearance
BEFORE installing a new felt seal.  Then mark the position of the nut (I use
a Sharpie, but a center punch & love tap with a BFH would do fine) before
disassembling to install the seal.  

The problem is that the new seals are thick enough to defeat the more common
method (given in many tho not all manuals) of installing the seal first and
then trying to set bearing clearance.  The result of installing the seal
first is that the bearing clearance (apparently) must be constantly
readjusted for the first several hundred miles of operation, as the felt
compresses and wears to it's final thickness.  

Setting the clearance first is in one of the Triumph factory manuals, tho I
forget which one offhand.

Randall