blackwolf
Member Since: 03 Nov 2009
Location: South West England
Posts: 17386
 
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| Question re. hub nuts, FRC8700 | |
Back in 1947 when LR designed the first fully-floating hub, the design included opposed taper-roller wheel-bearings retained and adjusted by means of two nuts (an adjuster nut and a lock nut) with a malleable lock washer between them. This arrangement lasted to 1998 (I believe), when for obscure and undisclosed reasons (undoubtedly involving cost, or the reduction thereof) the design was changed to use a selective spacer between the bearings and a single stake nut.
The original hub nuts were designed to take a standard size box spanner, and the most appropriate size was 1.1/4 BSW or 1.3/8 BSF (which are, of course, the same), which equates to approx 2.1/16" or 52mm across flats. Few people nowadays know that the hubs nuts are not actually 52mm but actually a BSW size!
The post-98 stake nut helpfully retained the same AF dimension, so the same size tool fits it.
The reason for this long-winded bit of history is this: Some time ago I purchased from a well-known online retailer some "Genuine LR" old-style hub nuts, p/n FRC8700. They arrived without LR branded packaging (always a worrying sign) but the supplier assured me that this was because they come in bulk backs which the retailer splits. They appear genuine, individually wrapped in rust-preventative paper, BUT, to my surprise, they are only 50mm or 2" across flats.
So my question is this, have genuine plain nub nuts become smaller? It seems unlikely, since it means that the "standard" sized tooling can't be used. Also, the stake nut type are definitely still dimensioned for a 52mm spanner. Is this another economy measure and if so when did it start? Or have I been royally ripped off and supplied with items usually packaged in blue boxes?
Has anyone bought a bona-fide FRC8700 from a dealer recently, and if so, what size was it?
Any answers and insights gratefully received!
As a total aside, it strikes me as a bit unsatisfactory that the wheel-bearings on a late-spec Defender, which may have a GVW up to 3500kgs, are in fact SMALLER than those on an original Series 1, with its much more modest spec! That's progress!
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19th Jun 2017 2:13pm
