In the past all I have needed to do is take a bearing into a specialist company (several round these parts) and they simply cross reference the part and supply a replacement. I have never known a bearing specific to a particular car or model, they are all standard industry parts and readily available.

That was my general understanding and UK experience, though Honda are reliably reported to specify unobtainable bearings, at least on motorcycles, possibly for planned obsolescence.

Here I have the additional problems of my lack of Chinese, and the prevailing CANT DO mechanical culture.

Its soo much easier to say MEIO! Too Old! for anything over about 10 years, so that's generally what they do.

If I had the bearing code though, they wouldn't necessarily know it was for a 33 year old car, which might help.

a) How risky it is to take this hub type apart

Dunno

b) Whether the observed temperature difference justifies that risk

Not for me. Unless the bearing is whining and grinding intrusively, I would leave well alone. The improvement from fettling the brake seems to indicate where the problem was - and perhaps still is a bit. If it works reasonably well, don't mend it!

Thanks.

Re "The improvement from fettling the brake seems to indicate where the problem was - and perhaps still is a bit"

Removing the brakes completely and motoring the hubs in second gear on jackstands still showed a (consistent but smaller) temperature difference, so I think there is more here than just brake binding, though there was that as well.

forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/uploads/default/optimized...g

"The improvement from fettling the brake seems to indicate where the problem was - and perhaps still is a bit"

Removing the brakes completely and motoring the hubs in second gear on jackstands still showed a (consistent but smaller) temperature difference, so I think there is more here than just brake binding, though there was that as well.

forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/uploads/default/optimized...g

Brilliant graph. You've proved it's the brakes!

Don't think I have.

I've think I've proved, or at least provided evidence consistent with, it probably being the brakes AND something else, with the most obvio0us candidate being bearing failure, since a temperature difference persists with the brakes removed...

Though there wasn't much hub looseness evident when doing the 12 to 6, 9 to 3 rock, there was quite noticable run-out wobble when it was running, though I don't have a dial guage thingy to measure it with.

It seems likely that this itself would cause brake heating when the brakes were actually fitted, (as well as any indirect heating from a hot bearing), even if there was nothing wrong with the brakes themselves

""I presume the ambient temperature is around 20 in your neck of the woods"

.In the bleak mid winter.

(Its bleak because the air pollution is worse then)

Edited by edlithgow on 16/03/2020 at 13:22