rear wheel bearings

[baron_matt]

Hi

Just giving the 126 Brown a shakedown since purchase and I think I have wheel bearing issues at the rear. The car gives off a hell of a droning din at about 40 mph. At first I thought it was the engine, but I've popped into Neutral and coasted and its definitely a sound connected to the wheels / transmission than the engine.

Are rear wheel bearings hard to change?

Also the brakes on this car lack feel and are a bit wooden needing a real shove to bring the car to a halt, I'm going to try and run it for a while to see if things improve with use, but are the drums usually good on these cars? I haven't got a haynes yet so can anyone advise on brake adjustment?

The other thing that is annoying is the washers. The pump won't lift water from the bag even with a non return valve fitted. I'm guessing this must mean that the pump is knackered as the bag has water and the lines are clear and not cracked and the jets are not blocked. Common problem?

[thepuddlejumper]

The rear bearings have a crushable spacer which as the name states you need to crush to a specified torque. I have replaced a couple of bearings and found it takes a lot of effort to crush the spacer.  I have also as a temporary measure just replaced the bearings using the original spacer and it worked fine. The temporary fix is still working 3 years later without issue.

Ralph