Picanto 1.0 TA front strut bearing seems tight.

[DIYspanner]

The bearing is made up of two plastic discs with grooves on the inside that are greased and cupped together. When I reassembled the strut, the rubber bushing is rather tight to turn.

Is that the norm for this type of bearing?

 

[DIYspanner]

This is the bearing type by the way.

 

[Burnerman]

Did you separate the two halves of this bearing?
I guess it could be pretty tough to turn, after all there is the full force of the spring acting upon it.
John

 

[DIYspanner]

Did you separate the two halves of this bearing?
John

It actually came apart when I disassembled the strut to find the bother. No damaged that I can see but I did apply some grease before I pressed the two halves back together. It seems to work fine when spun by hand when removed, without the spring tension applied.

 

[Burnerman]

So this thing is effectively two pieces of plastic rubbing together? I can’t say I’ve come across one like this before.
A similar looking Peugeot bearing has metal faces within and a full set off 6mm balls - again, this one was in bits when it came off but the new one wasn’t crimped together either.
John

 

[DIYspanner]

I've stopped play for today. Will look at the bearing tomorrow. If it should have metal balls inside, I didn't hear any fall out. I'm intrigued.

 

[Burnerman]

Me too! If there were ball bearings in there you may expect a rusty mess by now.
Maybe its some sort of carbon track - I haven’t a clue! Do share what you find.
John

 

[DIYspanner]

The inside of the strut bearing. No steel balls just surface contact, lubed with grease which I've cleaned off. Its weird.

The bearing sits on top of the spring seat.

 

[DIYspanner]

Taking it one step further, the rubber disc seems to rotate in the upper half but I don't understand which it has tracks rather being flat to increase surface contact and reduce friction.

 

[Burnerman]

Oh well, who are we to argue - it must work somehow! Thanks for the photos.
John

 

[DIYspanner]

I hadn't noticed it before I took the strut apart but I've now taken the n/s off and that's damn tight too.

Its the upper half where the original lube was so I packed it out with rubber grease since the disc is rubber, put the strut back together and that has eased it. Still takes reasonable force to turn the rubber bush but a lot easier. I presume the ridges that run around the disc are to retain lube and stop it being forced out.

 

[Burnerman]

That sounds like the proper diagnosis.....of course the stiffness won’t be noticed back on the car.
As there doesn’t seem to be any wear apparent it must work very well!
John

 

[DIYspanner]

Well I've now rebuilt the n/s strut having taken the bearing apart, cleaned and greased with rubber grease. With new strut assembled, the rubber bush turns better than when I took it off the car so all is well it seems.

Further to the construction of the bearing, the green disc in the white half is actually thin transparent plastic disc. A weird and wonderful design by the Koreans.

 

[DIYspanner]

Test driven this morning and all seems perfect on the front. The steering is a delight.