two needle rollers in a radius arm?
Turbo Mini Forums

Just come to rebuild my radius arm and it had needle rollers both sides, when I came to fit the bushing after fitting the roller on correct side, the hole for the bush was too big, someone has obviously gone to the trouble of machining the radius arm for two rollers, As I couldn't fit the bush I picked the best of two rollers, checked for smooth operation and had no play on the new shaft so I fitted it on what should have been the bush side. I'm not overly concerned but it is going to last longer than a bush? And is it okay with two bearings in there as per the top arm?

my sc rear arms have 2 needle rollers

Edited by minimole23 on 13th Jul, 2014.

IIRC the 13" Aussi Moke arms have 2 needle bearings standard

One of my arms has 2 roller bearings in it as well

MRA told me Mini spares recon units are twin roller bearing. As long both are have twin rollers shouldn't be an issue

Could be, although the radius arm pin looks like it's been in there since the car was built when I took it apart, which makes me think someone fitted another roller as a fix to sell on with an mot or whatever.

But now it's back in one piece

I believe that early prototypes (and possibly some production cars) ran with two roller bearings, but the bush was preferred as it lasts longer.

Metric is for people who can't do fractions.

I have previously had 2 roller bearlings

Needle rollers are fine both ends(aussie mokes std) as long as the shaft is properly hardend. To test for hardness just run a file over the shaft it shouldnt mark it. We have seen some soft shafts over the years, they should be about 62 rockwell if you get them tested.

the metros had needle bearings at both ends

Roller bearings are really in the wrong application in this kind of use. Same can be said for the front top arms and full roller rockers. That is why there is a bush on the heavily loaded side of the Mini radius arms

I suppose when they need replacement again I might get a sleeve made up to go between the radius arm and the new bush, should be simple enough. I'll see how long this lasts with regular greasing!