Front Wheel Bearings

[sunglasses1991]

On the 69, are the inner and outer bearings and races pressed into the rotor/hub, just like on rear wheel drive cars?

thanks, Al

[Doc Hubler]

I think the bearing unit is the same: this is 66-68. They are pressed in -- you need a press to get them out and replace with the new ones.

3f514150d917cf33e42dd3912effa3ed.jpg (9.73 KiB) Viewed 17982 times

[Doc Hubler]

This is the front bearing.

[sunglasses1991]

Yes, it is the front bearing. Is there anything on the net that shows how to take everything apart

[Doc Hubler]

Those don't come apart per se. Order them from Kantor. If you're talking about the entire steering knuckle/front suspension, you'll have to get a service manual or parts book. They are readily available on ebay.

[sunglasses1991]

OK, thanks

[Otto Skorzeny]

A warning about products from Kanter;

Doc, have you purchased and used that particular part from Kanter?

My experience with Kanter's products has been wholly negative. Most of their stuff is made in China and is of particularly poor quality. I rebuilt the entire front suspension of my Cadillac with Kanter parts. The rubber bushings and caps disintegrated within a few years. The springs sagged worse than the 50 year old originals.

The abysmal quality of the rocker arms made it more practical to have the originals rebuilt/machined when I rebuilt the heads.

I have a friend in Australia whose Kanter suspension bushings deteriorated on his 57 Cadillac while it was on stands in his shop undergoing restoration.

There are a lot more stories from people with similar experiences. Some of their stuff might be ok but I will never buy another item from them unless I absolutely can't obtain it from another source.

Rock Auto has front and rear wheel bearings for these cars.

[Doc Hubler]

Well, I guess I'll find out soon enough. I did use Kanter's kit for my car -- replaced all suspension bushings and all the bearings. They looked like exact reproductions of the originals. Let's be honest about this. Rock Auto probably uses the same supplier for these items. Neither of those companies is a manufacturer. So I doubt there's any difference in quality. Time will tell how things hold up. I'm pretty confident however. The quality of rubber parts overall is much better, even if made in China. Just can't say anything about the internals of the huge bearings. For the likely use my car will get, it will last my lifetime more than likely. I completely agree that materials made in CHina all too often undercut better quality materials based on price, but are sold as the same quality. Often a problem, agreed. However, there are few other sources to find the parts, and replacing the old worn ones was a must.

[Otto Skorzeny]

It's possible that some of the parts come from the same suppliers as Rock Auto, however, Rock Auto lists the manufacturer of the bearings which are Timken, Centric, etc.

I suspect Kanter may cobble together a "kit" based on available, off-the-shelf parts, some of which might be OEM quality made by reputable manufacturers. One never knows, however, since Kanter repackages the parts and doesn't reveal the name of the manufacturer.

I think the main problem is that if a part is not available through normal parts outlets, Kanter will contract with a Chinese factory to make them. In that case they are inevitably of inferior quality since they do not have to meet OEM standards.

I don't want you to think I'm just some dope with an axe to grind against Kanter. They do not have a good reputation among restorers in the Cadillac community.

They've been around a long time and when USA made parts were still widely available, they had a good reputation. For the last 15 or so years the quality of their parts is hit or miss - usually miss.

The only items I have from them that function properly are the rear air shocks on the Cadillac. After some detective work tracing the numbers on the tubes, I discovered that they were made by Gabriel in the USA.