Prop shaft center bearing - have i done it all wrong ?

[jimbom30cab]

This is a new centre bearing fitted only a hundred or so miles ago

I took the prop off because there was this awful rattling noise from underneath and I quickly found out it was this - see arrow below. Its just rattles around the shaft.



So then I noticed when looking at the bearing its self, it looks a bit off set, have a look below and see if you agree or not.

I think the whole inner bearing has moved towards the UJ joint by about 8 or 10mm






I think i'll pop the shaft down a local garage I know and see if they think its moved and if they can position it correctly.

But I wonder why this has happened ?

Any help is most appreciated

Thanks

[hillbilly30]

Did you preload the mounting when you fitted it up? Prevents that from happening I think! The bearing will push out of the mount fairly easy, and the bearing is not a very tight fit over the prop, you can pull it all apart easy enough. Also those metal rings either side of the bearing are cr*ppy dust covers that get bent up and make nasty noises, better off binning them and coating bearing in white grease to protect it from what little cack get past the prop cover. Make sure you mark splines on prop before splitting though.

[daimlerman]

Make sure you mark splines on prop before splitting though.

Both parts should have a white dot on them...
Failing this,the u/j's should be in the same plane,this reduces the risk of it being wrongly aligned by 50%!

[jimbom30cab]

thanks guys

I did mark the prop with the white breakers tipex stuff

I honestly can't remember if I pre-loaded it, which means I probably didn't

I think i'll remove the rattly dust cover and fit the prop again ensuring the bearing is pre-loaded 5mm towards the GB end.

But, I can't help feeling it's not right, this overhang here (see blue arrows) just looks wrong to me

[Brianmoooore]

The bearing should be kept in place by a circlip, #11
http://bmwfans.info/parts/catalog/E30/T ... _mounting/

[jimbom30cab]

Thanks Brian, circlip #11 is there. It's in the other side to that pictured above.