Series 3 axle bearings?

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tomhop

tomhop

Active Member
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Location
Scotland Angus
i bought a set of Timken bearings from Mps Trading on eBay (part numberRTC3537G) the mechanic that is rebuilding my rear axle said that these are the wrong bearings and that they need to be 2 different sizes however the guy i bought them from says they are correct, is that the right part number or do i ned to order more of a different type?
 
If you google that part number you'll see lots of pictures of a wheel bearing kit with two different sized bearings
 
here is a picture of the bearing i ordered is the mechanic the one who is wrong?
bearing pic.jpg
 
I don't know for sure who is "wrong" but that picture shows two bearings of different sizes. The hubs for the series 3 are different from the series 2/2a and do have different bearings (if I remember correctly).

If I were you I'd either measure the bearings you bought and compare that size with the hub or read the bearing ID marks from the bearing cups (old and new) to try and figure out what is going on.
 
tomhop said:
i should have mentioned the axle is from a 1981 series 3
Click to expand...
in theory the axle should use 2x rtc3429 per side after 1980,it sounds like you need the early kit,because axle has been changed in the past or wheel stations have, you can tell from stub axle later is a parallel tube earlier has a step
rtc3534 is early kit wit 2 sizes of bearing
rtc3537 later equal size bearing kit
 
I had a nightmare with hub bearings on mine because I had to change a stub axle. I could only get the later type so the early type bearings wouldn't fit. I'm sure the bearings are different sizes (inner bigger than the outer if I remember correctly) just make sure your stub axle matches your bearings. Mine is a 1978 by the way. In the end I got the stub axle turned down to fit the bearings. Early stub axles have a removable oil seal collar, later ones are part of the axle.
 
i have the bearing in front of me it is marked LM603011 778 08. inner diameter of 46mm and a outer diameter of 76mm. as i mentioned before they are both the same size, cant get hold of the mechanic to see what he did with the old ones.
 
found one of the old bearings its a timken as well and its marked 29111 i think for some reason i have an earlier axle fitted to my s3
 
Thanks for all your help i have emailed Mps Trading to see if they will do a swap for the earlier kit. Would i be right to imagine this would be fairly common finding earlier axles on a series 3 from the early 1980's or is it more likely that this was swapped by a PO?
 
I have found that it is fairly common for Land Rover to have done what it felt like when it was building these things and not stick to any rules they themselves decided to make!
 
Mine was registered March 1981 but was built in November 1980. I believe the newer ' rationalized' axles were introduced in July 1980. It is possible that your vehicle was built a few months before it was registered. Land Rover sales were not at their best around that time from what I've researched.

Although mine has he newer axles, someone has changed the rear drove shafts to the older 10 spline type.
No idea what bearings mine might have! I rebuilt the front axle and that was all original rationalized axle components.
 
I have come to the conclusion that when it comes to old land rovers absolutely anything is possible no matter how daft it seems. A lot of them were just rusty old work trucks to be kept going by any means.
 
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