Guest jeffrycook Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 My mechanic wants to replace the front wheel bearings on my 1956 Buick Roadmaster with an upgrade kit that has tapered wheel bearings. Do such upgrades exist and where would I find them. Jeff Cook 907-322-2146. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonMicheletti Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 The car has run with ball bearings for 60 years. Why bother changing to taper roller bearings unless you cant get the ball bearings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 They are not readily available anymore. They were used in the 1950's and 1960's909065R outer bearing set909062R inner bearing set (these are 1958 numbers which are backward compatible)Not the 'R' suffix which denotes roller and is added to the more common ball bearing number.I searched once and found some =$$$$$ and the brand was not recognizable, so performance would be questionable...you would still need to carry a ball bearing set if you had a failure on the road.If you stick with ball bearings look for good American made stuff like New Departure from back then. New replacements from Buick suppliers is 'Pacific rim' and is junk (race does not match the ball curvature).Willie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60FlatTop Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 Alaska, parts might be a little hard to find over the counter. I put all four ball bearing sets in my 1960 in 2002, still going fine. If it is not an immediate need run two searches on Ebay for 909062 and 909065. When one shows up for under 50 bucks grab it. $200 to $300 isn't bad for all four.Keep them greased and adjusted and you will be fine for a couple of decades at least.The balls are most sensitive to jars and direct hits from pot holes and the like. It will brinell your balls and nobody likes that.I always stay aware of the sensitivity of my balls when I drive and avoid anything that might jar them. Your mechanic may have had a bad experience with his in the past. But that may have been prior to these vehicles reaching collector status and the balls were treated to rough daily use. Just use moderately good judgement and the original equipment should be fine.Bernie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 I always stay aware of the sensitivity of my balls when I drive and avoid anything that might jar them. ...BernieSage advice ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buick5563 Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 Plus one^^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest YIWORK Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 Check out this disk conversion bracket and bearings from Scarebird. https://scarebird.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=59&product_id=57They are a local company in my area of WA and they also have a simple bracket to mount a dual MC from Wilwood https://scarebird.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=59&product_id=123or another mount https://scarebird.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=59&product_id=132 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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