Front axle thrust bearing

[Julian in SC US]

Hello All

The front axle spindle thrust bearing consists of two races and one cover to hold it all together. One race is exposed and is a weight bearing surface and the other race is completely enclosed by the retaining cover. Which side should be on top when installed? The cover has the bearing number stamped on it- Timken T163x. Also, what does the "x" mean after the bearing number- it was etched by hand on my new bearing from CNH. Thanks, Julian H.

[van Son]

I would mount the "open" side up, I'm not sure it's the correct way.
but the reasening is that the griese you pump in your front axle to lubricate the bushings and bearings get a better chance to reach the thust bearing.
also dirt cannot enter the bearing as easy as it would when the "open" side was mounted down.

maybe I'm wrong, but that's my point of view.

[Brian]

Julian,

Not sure from your description what you have. The bearing used to be a sealed unit with a tin cover that goes up into the axle and a steel surface that goes down onto the stub axle. Looked a bit like a clutch thrust bearing.

From the sound of what you have, I would suspect that the races could be of different sizes, one to fit in the cup and one to fit on the stub axle.