Greetings dear readers. Today I will talk about the hub bearing for the Niva. Many of you have encountered a problem with the quality of spare parts, this problem is all too common. It seems like I bought a thing, installed it, and then it broke down again. And here the question arises: why do you need an SUV that is scary to drive off-road in case it breaks down or you need to drive several cars. I once changed a wheel bearing three times in a month. But at one point, I decided that I would not buy cheap spare parts, as in that saying “We are not so rich to buy cheap things.” True, this rule does not always work, but in most cases it is 90 percent justified. But this is half the trouble. The problem is that you can’t find an expensive, high-quality item if you don’t live in Moscow. Although the choice is large and every seller beats himself in the chest with his fist saying that the thing is super, but on arrival it turns out that this super thing was made in the basement of a Chinese workshop. And our craftsmen, in order to somehow compensate for the quality, invent how to insert a hub bearing from another car into the steering knuckle. And this doesn’t always work either, I know from my friends. So here it is.
On the well-known forum, everyone praises the SKF wheel bearing, but not in every city you can buy them, because “Demand creates supply.” For myself, I found what I think is an alternative to the SKF wheel bearing.
For four years now I’ve been driving tfu tfu tfu normally. Occasionally I tighten the hub nut. In almost every city, at least in many, there is such a “BB” store; many people scold it, although if you look at it, it has nothing to do with it, the manufacturers are to blame for producing bad spare parts. And in general, you can buy bad spare parts in any store if you don’t know exactly what you want. And if you don’t want bad spare parts, then our sellers will supply them for you. Believe me, I’ve been in trading for 20 years. So.
Even in a store that is bad for some or good for others, there are good spare parts. This is an NSK bearing on display; it costs about 600 rubles. and on the price tag it is indicated as such.
HUB BEARING 32008
Manufacturer: Japan/JAPAN
I don’t know what brand this is, in principle I wasn’t interested in whether it was Japanese or not, but when they installed it for me, the craftsmen appreciated the quality of this product. And after years, I can also say that yes, it’s a worthwhile thing. And this is what I wanted to share with you. Although I do not rule out that they may have a marriage.
And lastly, there is one more little secret. In order for a hub bearing , especially an imported one, to feel good, you need not to use cheap lubricants, this sometimes allows you to avoid carrying out maintenance for a long time. Use lubricants from such manufacturers as TOTAL, MOTUL, CRC, MOBIL.
Reinforced, non-adjustable hubs
For Niva 4x4 you can find on sale reinforced, non-adjustable hubs with double-row bearings from the Iveco Daily truck. According to the manufacturer, this modernized unit has the following advantages over Nivovsky:
- there is no need to adjust (the bearing tightening is precisely set during its production);
- no need for regular lubrication;
- eliminates rotation of bearings on the hub;
- eliminates wear of bearing seats on the steering knuckle and hub;
- a ball bearing reduces friction in the hub assembly;
- The service life of the hub is increased due to thickening (see photo).
Instructions for installing steering knuckles with non-adjustable bearings are included. To download files you need to log in to the website. There is at least one drawback of such a modified Niva hub - high cost.
Types of hub units for cars of the Niva, Chevrolet-Niva family
All owners of Niva and Chevrolet-Niva family cars sooner or later face the need to replace wheel bearings.
The reasons may be different: And there are two solutions to replacing the wheel bearings.
The first method is the most affordable, but has very big disadvantages. You need to find high-quality bearings, install them correctly and constantly monitor them and make adjustments. Failure to comply with all these points will lead to premature failure of the unit and may also lead to an accident. The second way is to install a hub assembly with a non-adjustable bearing. These bearings have a longer life and do not require adjustment. When installing such bearings, the hub is tightened once during installation and does not require attention during operation.
Now on the market there are many different wheel hub units with non-adjustable bearings for vehicles of the Niva and Chevrolet-Niva family.
The conclusion suggests itself, the option with bearings from Iveco Daily. This option uses the most powerful bearing compared to others.
Fig 1. On the left is a bearing from IVECO. On the right are two standard wheel bearings.
Benefits of installing maintenance-free hub units
And now the most important thing. Selecting a manufacturer of a non-adjustable hub assembly.
There are many manufacturers of hub units on the market for Niva and Chevrolet-Niva. But only one manufacturer does not resharpen standard knuckles (you can find out about regrinding very easily. If a spacer ring is included in the kit, then the knuckle has been resharpened), but produces them from scratch. This is an unregulated hub unit for Niva and Chevrolet-Niva manufactured by VolgaAvtoProm . A big plus will be the reinforced hub in this kit. To date, no other manufacturer produces IVECO bearing knuckles but regrinds them.
Kits for 24 splines for Chevrolet-Niva, NIVA 21213, NIVA 21214, NIVA 2131 cars with CV joints for 24 splines. with brake disc assemblies and without discs. Universal kits are suitable for cars with and without ABS.
When installing a kit without a brake disc, be sure to check the discs for wear. Since the bearing lasts 100 thousand km. and more. Often brake discs last less mileage.
In our store we do not sell kits with reground knuckles, since there have been cases of wheel bearing destruction due to non-perpendicularity of the reground bearing seat and the base plane of the brake caliper mounting. The consequence of the non-perpendicularity of these planes was the runout of the wheel and brake disc when rotating relative to the brake caliper.
Source
Converting the hub to a double-row bearing
Do you want to modify your Niva, but have a small budget? Then we’ll show you how to remake the front hubs on a Niva with your own hands. Required:
- double-row bearing from Moskvich 2141 (catalog number: 2141-3103020), or an analogue from Craft (article: CR4172370);
- two retaining rings from the same vehicle (part number 366553-15).
We take the drawings and seek the services of a turner. The master must bore the hub to fit new bearings, grind the steering knuckles and make parts according to the diagram. By the way, some Niva 4x4 owners also use an AUDI 74x40x74 wheel bearing, in this case only the steering knuckles are ground.
After the parts are manufactured, all that remains is to press in the double-row bearing and reassemble the already non-adjustable hubs. At the end of the work, tighten the hub nut with a large torque “from the heart”. Their adjustment is no longer required, you can forget about the hum and howl while driving!
Have you ever encountered a similar modification to the Niva hub? Leave recommendations and reviews about your options for upgrading the VAZ 2121, 2131. Let us remind you that the domestic SUV has other shortcomings, which are also eliminated by modifications. You can also find information about the car you are interested in by its content.
Key words: Niva front suspension
The saga of the front hubs and their bearings.
After front end revision
it came to installing modified hub units
Remarque
I made these fists for the last field back in the spring of 2012, and since then they have served faithfully and faithfully, regularly pounding along the mutilated roads of Omsk and its environs.
When I made them, I expected that they would definitely outlive the Niva. And so it happened
- the fists migrated to this car. And now about how it was all done.
Wheel unit VAZ 21(21,213,214,218,30…)
one of, I’m not afraid of this word, the most colorful, in part addressed to him by purely Russian (obscene)
Design Features
The product is a complex-shaped part that rotates on a pair of tapered roller bearings. Their outer diameter is pressed into the steering knuckle. The standard equipment of the Chevrolet Niva includes adjustable hubs. In it, the bearing clearance depends on the position of the adjusting nut.
The latter is equipped with a fixation belt that prevents spontaneous loosening or tightening of the threaded connection. This mechanism requires adjustment during maintenance. An incorrectly adjusted unit wears out quickly:
- Excessive tightening torque makes it difficult for the wheel to rotate, leading to overheating and destruction of the bearings.
- A loose nut causes play and knocking noise in the bearings. Impact loads accelerate wear of the roller metal.
The drive axle shaft transmits torque to the hub due to the presence of splines on the inside of the central hole.
There are 22 of them in the standard design, and 24 in the reinforced design. The second, more durable type of design is equipped with double-row bearings from IVECO trucks. Reinforced hubs are used on VAZ 2121, 2123, 2131, 21213 and 21214.
Some owners re-equip their cars by equipping them with hub units themselves. This avoids damage in the form of broken splines. However, this modification is fraught with drawbacks. The strength of the standard hub is lower than that of the transfer mechanism parts. Therefore, it serves as a kind of “fuse” against overload.
The mounting design for the rear wheels of the Chevrolet Niva is radically different from the front. No hubs are used here. The wheel is attached to the flange of the axle shaft, which rotates in a special bearing.
Torque is transmitted from the rear axle gearbox to the wheels through a spline connection. However, in this case, the splines are cut not in the hub, but in the gears of the gearbox.
How many splines are there on the Niva 21214 axle shaft?
Until 2004, NIVA 2121, 21213, 21214, 2131, 2123 NIVA-CHEVROLE cars were equipped with CV joints (or constant velocity joints) of 22 teeth (z=22) and, accordingly, hubs for 22 teeth. Since 2004, CV joints of both 22 teeth and 24 teeth have been installed on 2121, 21213, 21214, 2131, so before replacing either the hub or the CV joint, it is important to first clarify what type of CV joint is installed on your car. On cars 2123 NIVA-CHEVROLE after 2004, both CV joints and hubs of 24 teeth (z = 24) are installed.
Not long ago I had an unsuccessful jump and bent the bridge, and the fact that the bridge was bent was only seen, naturally, when the axle shafts were taken out. And since they were dismantling the car for a different topic, the bridge, firstly, came as a surprise, and secondly, and most importantly, we had to urgently find a new one, even one, so that the car would not take up space in the service.
And since I have a Niva, and not a Geledvagen, we gathered across the bridge not to the store with a list of articles, but to sort it out. And there, over the phone, they promised a wide bridge, but on the spot it turned out to be narrow, and under the guise of a short one, they sold a bridge from the classics.
There was no fundamental difference which bridge to install, but it was necessary to immediately decide on alterations and a list of spare parts that also needed to be purchased immediately, I decided to organize the information about what bridges fit what.
Globally, there are three (four) types of bridges - narrow, wide and shnivo bridge, m-bridge:
The narrow 21st axle is the rear axle beam 2121 (2121-2401010).
Length 1330 mm. Locking ring 21 (2121-2403084) and oil seal 01 (2101-2401034).
Axle shaft 2121 (2121-2403069) - it’s short, it’s also the old model - length 750 mm.
Installed before 2002-04. Afterwards, unification with the shnivy took place and the plant stopped making short axle shafts. Wide axle – rear axle beam Niva 213 (21213-2401010) and Shniva 2123 (2123-2401010)
- essentially the same, they differ in the fastening of shock absorbers (which are like a house in the field) and brake pipes. Length 1350 mm. Locking ring 2123 (2123-2403084 regular or with teeth 2123-2403084-10 for ABS), oil seals 2110 left and right (2110-2301034 and 2110-2301035).
Niva axle shaft (21213-2403069) and shniva (2123-2403069) – it’s long, it’s also a new model – 760 mm. The axle shafts themselves are the same; the assembly differs in the mounting bolts (M10x60 for 2123 and M10x50 for 213) of the axle shaft to the bridge. Now only shniva axle shafts (2123-2403069) are produced.
Externally, a narrow bridge differs from a wide bridge by the groove for the locking ring - ring 2123 will not fit into the narrow bridge, ring 21 will, in principle, fit into the wide bridge. The difference between the axle shafts is in the place for the oil seal. The short one, after the locking ring, transitions to a smaller diameter of 30 mm. The long one does not have such a transition; the place for an oil seal with a diameter of 35 mm is the same as under the locking ring. and as suggested in the comments, there is also a visual difference - in the area where the axle shaft is attached, the new wide bridge has a square boss, but the old one does not.
Installed approximately from 2002-04 to 2009.
M-bridge - rear axle beam 214 (21214-2401010).
The same wide axle, but the shock absorber mountings have changed - now vertically - and the mounting brackets for the long rods have been changed. The rods are brought together to the axis of the car, respectively, the brackets are turned 5 degrees.
Long axle shafts 2123.
Installed around 2009-10.
Also in nature there is a bridge 2120 (2120-2401010 and 2120-2401010-20) narrow and wide, respectively, and axle shafts for it 2120 (2120-2403069 and 2120-2403069-10). We bet on Nadezhda and on various crocodiles. They are considered to be stronger than regular ones.
And the fickle MythBusters column.
Myth 1.
The classic and 21 Niva have the same bridges.
Bridge 2106 (2101-2401010). Width 1250 mm, i.e. 8 cm narrower than Nivovsky. The cups for the springs are also located a little narrower, the rest of the fasteners are the same and are completely interchangeable. I haven’t seen a classic bridge on the field, but rally drivers use a wider bridge and thicker axle shafts on the classic ones.
Destroyed. Myth 2.
There are axle shafts with 24 splines.
They really do exist. According to legend, they were developed and installed at FAM Niva. However, the factory never actually made 24-spline axle shafts and never installed corresponding differentials in the rear axle. Neither on the field, nor on the shniva. Another thing is that no one bothers you to install a side gear with 24 splines and use non-factory axle shafts. But no one is stopping you from rolling in the military bridge either.
International NIVA Club
Pseudo-patriotism
Now I don’t remember exactly, but somewhere around 2015-16, our president said: import substitution. And hysteria and obscurantism began. Well, at least in the technical industries. Let me explain on bearings. There were about 40 bearing factories in the USSR. Now, by the standards of the full production cycle, there are 5-7 left. And several more industries that assemble bearings from Chinese components, like a Lego set. What am I talking about? Moreover, a countless number of products appeared in stores, manufactured in unknown ways, but with the inscription “made in Russia” on the boxes. The quality of truly Russian bearings can vary from high-class to “let it work” until a high-quality spare part arrives. Moreover, this also applies to the well-known VBF plant (Vologda), whose products complete the AvtoTAZ conveyor. When I got tired of this “worse than bitter radish”, I turned to imports of both high and medium quality.
