F-Body wheel bearing installed

[Karl]

I needed new front wheel bearing and after looking around the F-Body wheel bearings part no: SKF BR930186 is suppose to be one of the better options for a tough front wheel bearing that is better than factory.

Installation on both sides took me about 1 hour. Only difference is you insert the bolts from the rear and nuts in the front due to the threads on the bearings. Either that or tap them out.

Hope this helps with a option for the C4 ZR-1.

Edit, this bearing will work for 1991 - 1996 Corvette only.

Before:



After



Time to get that alignment, put some miles on the Z, and have some fun!

[Paul Workman]

Good to know, Karl!!!

Is this a GM part#, or did you get it somewhere else??

[WVZR-1]

I mentioned to Karl that if it were me that I'd certainly consider the F-body for a '91+ car. The confirmation was done years ago and I guess the monetary savings would depend upon the brand, warranty and vendor for the bearing. It's good to see that it worked well for Karl and his install times are what I would consider reasonable. Once done of course the next pair would be somewhat less time consuming.

The bearing used for the install is a '93 - '02 F-body and the "branding" is "your choice"!

I believe that if a person had a '90 or earlier car which had an ABS defeat or the ABS was just broken that the bearing could be used also. I haven't had a pair of them "side-by-side" to check but I likely will. I'm not interested in the use for the '86 - '90 with ABS, but rather it would be maybe a less expensive/easier to procure bearing that could be used for the '84 & '85 cars that don't have ABS.

A friend has an '84 and he'll likely do and confirm the install. I'll pass on what I determine after I have one of each in a "side-by-side".

[Paul Workman]

Originally Posted by WVZR-1

I mentioned to Karl that if it were me that I'd certainly consider the F-body for a '91+ car. The confirmation was done years ago and I guess the monetary savings would depend upon the brand, warranty and vendor for the bearing. It's good to see that it worked well for Karl and his install times are what I would consider reasonable. Once done of course the next pair would be somewhat less time consuming.

The bearing used for the install is a '93 - '02 F-body and the "branding" is "your choice"!

I believe that if a person had a '90 or earlier car which had an ABS defeat or the ABS was just broken that the bearing could be used also. I haven't had a pair of them "side-by-side" to check but I likely will. I'm not interested in the use for the '86 - '90 with ABS, but rather it would be maybe a less expensive/easier to procure bearing that could be used for the '84 & '85 cars that don't have ABS.

A friend has an '84 and he'll likely do and confirm the install. I'll pass on what I determine after I have one of each in a "side-by-side".

Thanks, once again for delving into that marvelous database/memory banks of yours! I've got both a 90 and a 91 Z. Looking forward to any updates you run across for the 90s (as MOST of us ZR-1'ers are.

[mike100]

skip to post #11
http://www.thevettebarn.com/forums/c...tte-topic.html

[Paul Workman]

Read a couple posts mentioning the SKF930186 F-body fits the 91-96. The 90 has no traction control or slip recovery, but will these parts fit a 90, is the question??

Soon as I know (or someone else chimes in), I'll post it.

[mike100]

Originally Posted by Paul Workman

Read a couple posts mentioning the SKF930186 F-body fits the 91-96. The 90 has no traction control or slip recovery, but will these parts fit a 90, is the question??

Soon as I know (or someone else chimes in), I'll post it.

There was definitely some question on what the model year break point was when I was researching the F-body cross reference. The toothed encoder is still needed for ABS so that part should be relevant and functional. As far as the wheels and hubs are concerned, ASR is strictly software and actuators to the throttle, rear brake actuation, and a routine to retard timing. They still need the wheel speed input same as ABS. 91's don't have ASR either and these hubs worked on mine. If there is no difference between the rear hub housing and the front spindles on 90 vs. 91 ZR-1's then it should work out ok. If the 90 has a different ABS tooth count or something odd, I would have read about it by now I'm sure- I mean we know they had a 1 year only airbag setup, but not sure that the chassis hard components or ABS was different.

Buyer beware until somebody tries it I guess. I know some of you guys have both years in your collection, maybe one of them could try it out and just keep the spare parts just in case the 90 is an oddball fit.

[WVZR-1]

Originally Posted by mike100

Buyer beware until somebody tries it I guess. I know some of you guys have both years in your collection, maybe one of them could try it out and just keep the spare parts just in case the 90 is an oddball fit.

I only mentioned the possibilities IF the ABS were "defeated" because I had no experience. I don't know exactly what the economical advantage might be but before this could be done on '90 or earlier cars the back-side of the knuckle/spindle would need a bore of substantial diameter to allow the F-body OR for that matter the potential use of the later Corvette bearing for the fronts.

If the ABS is active and working I see no real advantage to even considering the use of the F-body assemblies for the '90. The F-body I thought would be of particular interest to maybe the '84 - '85 owners maybe.

No auto parts store near me had both the assemblies involved on the shelf for comparison "first-hand". I could likely determine the requirement if I knew the dimension from the back of the mounting flange(to knuckle/spindle) to the tip of the ABS reluctor wheel of the '90.

This link takes you directly to the back-side view of a '90 and earlier assembly. That's the dimension that interests me.

http://www.carid.com/timken/wheel-be...FUoV7Aodbn4Anw

[mike100]

Originally Posted by WVZR-1

...
If the ABS is active and working I see no real advantage to even considering the use of the F-body assemblies for the '90. ...

http://www.carid.com/timken/wheel-be...FUoV7Aodbn4Anw

The F-Body bearing assemblies are all from 4th gen cars with ABS. Unless the 90 is somehow special mechanically and not the same as the 91, I'm thinking these might work. The concern is also if the code wheel has the same number of teeth and the same style of electrical connector etc. The picture in the link above shows an exposed code wheel and the camaro hubs/ later C4 hubs have a plastic cover and electrical plug.

The only difference on the 91-96 vette vs f-body hub bearing is the threaded hole vs. non-threaded. And 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of course.

[mike100]

So does anybody know why they say you can't do the later parts on 90 and below C4's? I'm of the thought that there is a very specific reason or people wouldn't be listing them as for use on 91-up.