Roller Bearing Lips

[Keith.owen]

Hi,
I am just having a crisis of confidence in as much as I'm not sure if I fitted the outer races correctly in the bottom end of my VH (previously it had all ball races -don't know why, it was just like that).. I pretty much think that I fitted them with the lip facing away from the fly wheel so that the races come away with the crank leaving the outer in place in the casting. I have that funny feeling that maybe the lip should be on the outside keeping the race in situ. Does anyone know what is correct?

I guess I'm going to have to srip it down to find out, but I fear the consequences if I got it wrong. Can anyone advise me on this?

Thanks,

Keith

[nevhunter]

The way you have them would stop the outer part of the race coming out of the cases when hot. This can happen with unlipped races, which is nor desireable. The outer on the drive side should always be a ball race as it actually locates the crankshaft for end movement. Provided the end float is not excessive, I can't see any problem with it as it is. You should still have a spacer between the two races on the drive side Nev

[Keith.owen]

Hi Nev,
Sorry for the delay in responding tp thankyou but there is a big time difference; i am currently in Seattle with work. Fortunately I don't have to tear everything down!!

Keith

[david.anderson]

Keith
The bearing lip should always go to the outside of the crankcase.
There is a spacer between drive side bearings. For roller bearings the spacer should be .274”, but for ball races the spacer should be .286”. If who ever previously fitted ball races changed the spacer to the wider .286 then I would think that the only effect may be to reduce the end clearance of your flywheels in the crankcases. It would be worth checking that you have adequate end clearance.
David

[Keith.owen]

Hi David,
Thanks for the input. Fortunately I am OK (phew). I did measure the spacer based on information I gleaned from Drags's online shop parts list.

I became disconcerted as a result of reading the interview with Val Page in the AOMCC members section in which when discussing the design I read it that the lip on the drive side faces in towards the crank. When I assembled everything I reasoned that the lips would prevent the rollers or cage from rubbing up against the crankcase castings (not that they'd stop the outer from falling inwards to the flywheel). Not to worry my mind is at rest. Actually my biggest concern was that if I'd have had to remove them I was faced with breaking the seal on the timng side since beacuse the outer was a bit loose in the casing I'd glued it in with loctite bearing fixative!!

Thanks everso for the input. I have all of the tomes (Haycraft, Ariel owners guides and Waller) none of which touch on this subject (I guess it is just logical that you'd normally remember how things had been found prior to disassembly and put it all back the same, which is fine as long as things were correct in the first place)!!

Cheers,

Keith

[nevhunter]

Think about the worst thing that can happen and it's having the outer ring come out of the case and all it does is hit the flywheel face. The inner on the drive side used to be unlipped and I have had it move. While it is not desireable, it doesn't usually do a lot of damage.
As I have stated before, all bar the VH have ball races and as far as I'm concerned ball races are good enough for the VH's as well, unless you are on methanol, on the track with a high compression ratio. Nev

[Keith.owen]

Hi Nev,
In reality I could have saved money if I'd installed the ball races but I figured that the rollers are there for a reason and since I am attaching a sidecar thought it best. i do however have no point of refernce on this though. The good thing is that I seem to have got it right.....

Thanks again for your input and for always taking the time to offer advice.

Keith