VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 Inner and outer wheel bearing replacement question

Hi all,

I am preparing work on the inner and outer wheel bearings on my 1937 chevrolet business coupe. Can anyone lead me to a modern correct USA made replacement for both standard and tapered sets.

Thanks

Any place that sells bearings should be able to cross the New Departure number to a modern bearing if one is available.

Not really. Those bearings are pretty common though. I'm traveling right now and cannot look up the numbers.

Modern ball bearings are available on Ebay and probably elsewhere all day long. They are Chinese, have a plastic separator, and have larger but fewer balls than the original. Reviews are mixed. I have one of these in the outer position in my Pontiac, and so far (about 5000 miles) it has been fine. At the time I replaced it I couldn't source an original bearing in a reasonable amount of time. It might pay to buy a name brand bearing in the interest of getting good quality but it will still be Chinese.

If you want USA made, in my opinion you will have to buy NOS/NORS bearings from one of the NOS/NORS dealers. NOS/NORS inner bearings are usually available on Ebay, but outers are harder to find. If the dealers don't have any I suspect you will need to troll Ebay for a month or two to get them.

Tapered roller bearings exist, but they are not standard parts. They are special parts made for the express purpose of converting hubs that had ball bearings. I don't know where they are made, but I will be pretty surprised if they aren't made in China. The seals also do not fit properly after this conversion. I believe it requires manually denting an off-the-shelf seal to keep it from rubbing and dragging. I have heard there are now special seals made for this conversion that do not require denting. I have not seen one yet.

I'd check with The Filling Station and Chevs of the 40s to see what currently might be available.

I found out with the 38 that some of the bearings are different for the straight axle as opposed to the independent setup.

Thank you gentleman fornthe responses!

Tiny, old216 brings up an interesting point. Does your car have knee or straight on the front?

Thanks

Mine is a Master with the straight axle. I see yours is a MD. If different from the M your bearings would be New Departure 909026 & 909025. Any place that sells bearing should be able to cross them to new bearings if any are available.

Edit: Doing a quick on-line search both are readily available.

http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/chevyresto/3740.htm