Wheel bearings for your car

Structure and function of wheel bearings

Wheel bearings are one of the most important bearings in modern vehicles, in order to carry out rotary movements of shafts and axles safely and precisely. As metallic components or rubber-metal parts, lubrication of the bearings is essential, and leakage of the lubricant must be avoided. Special seals for wheel bearings are used for this, so that the reliable flow of lubricating grease or lubricating oil is guaranteed. The wheel bearing is a special car part that combines a safe and secure position with the greatest possible flexibility in the rotary movement. Separate retaining rings are installed to ensure that the bearing remains in its position and does not shift laterally along the shaft or axle. These car parts made of rubber or plastic ensure additional safety in the position of the wheel bearing without impeding its basic function.

This role is played by the circlip in your wheel bearing

The retaining ring should not be confused with the O-ring and other sealing rings that are installed in wheel bearings and other components in modern vehicles. Retaining rings assume the main function of providing additional security for the longest possible use of the wheel bearings. While optimal implementation of radial movements is desired for the rolling elements of the wheel bearing, lateral displacement of the bearing is not desired.

The circlip positions an additional vehicle part between the wheel hub and the wheel bearing. If this part is missing and the wheel hub is pressed out at a later point in time, the wheel bearing may be damaged. In the same way, the retaining ring ensures that this vehicle part is in a secure position, which ensures that the power is transferred correctly even after months and years. If there is too much play in individual dimensions of the wheel bearing, the driving force is no longer optimally transferred to the wheel via shafts and axles.

Identify defective wheel bearings

Problems with the wheel bearing primarily show up as an uneven driving behavior due to the no longer optimal storage of the wheel. Noise is also common, since the shaft or axle is no longer optimally mounted and is running slightly out of round. A visual inspection quickly shows whether the problem is to be found with the circlip or whether other vehicle parts related to the wheel bearing should be replaced. Here it can be useful to access a wheel bearing set directly and replace the complete car part with a new quality one.

Task of cotter pin in the wheel bearing

For optimal function of the wheel bearing over months and years, an ideal play of this car part is important. This can be freely adjusted during initial assembly and afterwards in order to enjoy optimal tuning of the entire chassis. As a small car part, the cotter pin is the right tool for this, with the help of which corrections can be made to the nut of the wheel bearing and the prevailing tension.