AND THE FITTING OF BEARINGS AND STUDS TO THE ALUMINIUM HUBS

These hubs are copies of the Triump Herald and Vitesse front hubs. These hubs were used on many 60s and 70s cars. Marcos, Lotus, Caterham, Turner, TVR and some historic Brabhams and Formula Fords of the era.

The Triumph uprights are used on many sports cars, Marcos, some historic Formula Fords, Clubmans and historic single seaters.

The bearings are different between the Spitfire Hub and the GT6 hub. The easiest way to check which you need is to measure the diameter of the stub axle where the outer bearing fits. Spitfire are 5/8 inch diameter. The GT6 ¾ inch diameter. Here is a dimensioned drawing of the hub also shown below. To order you must measure both the PCD and bearing size.

The hubs are made in 3 standard PCD - 3 3/4 inches (Triumph) 4.00 inches (BMC) and 4 1/4 inches (Ford). We also often have a supply of un-drilled hubs for specialist preparation companies.

The diameter of the wheel stud hole is 1/2inch. This is the correct size for the shouldered Triumph wheel stud. It is also correct for the Ford wheel studs both UNF and Metric.

In the original steel hub, the bolts for the disc are tapped into the hub. On the aluminium version the hub is counter bored, and the disc fitted with a bolt and nut. (This removes the risk of stripping the thread in the aluminium hub.)

We can supply high quality wheel bearings to suit, or you could use the aftermarket ones available.

The alloy hubs are softer than the steel hubs and care is needed when fitting the wheel bearings. We can fit the bearing free of charge if you buy the hubs from us. We can fit our new bearings or if you prefer we will fit bearings supplied by you.

We have tooling and a press to ensure that the bearings are fitted correctly. Contact us if you would like some help.

We can supply and fit the studs, either supplied by us or by yourself, again free of charge if you purchase the hubs from Merlin.

On the 3 3/4 PCD hubs, due to an increased hub body diameter for strength a small flat needs to be linished on the stud head. Again we have tooling and use our press to fit the studs.

A few photos below, taken in our workshop, of the process of fitting bearings and studs to a hub for a customer.

Contact us if we can help.