front bearing matched sets?

[WmWatt]

The front wheel bearings on the Festiva are the same size. Is it important to keep the bearings and races paired as if they are matched sets? I can't remember which new race goes with which new bearing and may have mixed them up.

I found that the question has come up on the Internet for other cars and the advice is it doesn't matter. But I am thinking most cars would have adjustable bearings, like the rear bearings on the Festiva. Given the Festiva front bearings are not adjustable has anyone run into a problem mixing them up?

Oddly, none of the discussions on the Internet mention whether the manufacturers match up bearings and races together to be within acceptable tolerance.

[econoaddict]

It should not matter as long as they are new and never been run.
If you had them out for a repack then yes keep them matched.

[blkfordsedan]

It should not matter as long as they are new and never been run.
If you had them out for a repack then yes keep them matched.

This is exactly right. The cup & cone wear in together and "match" themselves to each other. You should replace both the cup & cone when making repairs. A lot of people just replace the cone and reuse the old cup (outer race) because it's usually pressed in and harder to change. This will only cause accelerated wear on the new cone. It's like running used lifters on a new cam.....but people do it.

You can mix & match different brands when new, as long as they are from the same series. Most industrial distributors sell the cups & cones seperate.....Automotive wheel applications are the main ones that come packaged as a cup & cone set, for convenience. The only exception is metric tapered roller bearings. They always come as a set because the ID and OD of metric tapered roller bearings are designed to match the ID & OD of common ABEC 1 ball bearings. Inch dimension tapered roller bearings are designed in series (like LM67000). There can be a multitude of different cups & cones within a series, and any cup can be used with any cone as long as they are from the same series. The reason for this is to allow for different overall dimensions. There could be 4 different cones, each with a different bore, and maybe 6 different cups, each with a different OD. You can then combine them to create different overall dimensions. Because of this, if you take just the cone in to a parts store and want to buy a complete set they won't be able to ensure you get the right cup....since there are more than one that would work.
For example, you may have an LM67049 cone (roller assy) but you could have an LM67000 or an LM67010 or an LM67011 cup (outer race) depending on the OD of the complete assembly.

Just some bearing basics. I've been in the bearing business for ~20 years. Oh yeah, the inner race w/rollers is called the cone and the outer race is called the cup.

[crazyrog17]

Thanks Brian. Learn something new every day!