Question for Engineers/Mechanics

Mar 12, 2026 Last reply: 3 months ago 5 Replies

Here's something I can't get my head around due to not having exercised that part of the old grey matter for over half a century. Here's a cross section of the problem. The 'blue bit' needs 0.003" of 'wriggle room/endfloat/free play' within the confines of the 'black bit'. So I need to be able to measure that amount of play at 'A' on the diagram. The question is: where do I stick the shims to achieve this: at B or C or D?



Key: the yellow bit at the top is a nut, The green bit below that is a washer, The purple bit under that is a separate steel tube which forms the inner race of the top bearing. The orange bit is the rollers and shell comprising the outer race of the top bearing, seated against the black coded casting. I've shown the rollers as horizontal for clarity but they're vertical in reality.


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My apprenticeship was in electrical engineering! However, I can say, as drawn, this assembly will not function and the bearing serves no purpose irrespective of the shims position.

Are you sure the shoulder shown at B doesn't actually rest on the bearing inner ring? The shims perhaps used to prevent end loading on the bearing assembly.

I agree something's not right here with the drawing. What are we suppoosed to be looking at here? It resembles some kind of yolk and pivot like a wheel hub joint? I would suggest the OP double check the accuracy of this diagram.

Not an easy one. Shims at B will limit the float as required but, when you tighten the nut, surely everything ‘locks up’?

Don’t you need to remove the “black” metal at B and add a bush and shim, so they rest on the bearing?

If this is a wheel bearing, the normal way these things work is that the nut is tightened very gradually until there is just perceptible movement at the rim of the wheel. Too much and you have an MOT failure. Too little (ie no movement at all at the rim of the wheel) and you get premature bearing failure. I have never heard of shims being needed.

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