I have fitted Timken tapered roller Cooper S front bearings to probably a dozen drum braked Minis.
The only thing to watch is don't press the inner seal in too far or it fouls on the bearing inner.
Cooper S has a thicker seal spacer but you can use 2x drum brake ones, or just eyeball it is square when fitted.
The drum when mounted will be a couple off mm further out but it's not a problem at all.

If using non-Timken tapered rollers be aware the inner bearing spacer is often incorrect. if too thick (bearings loose) face it off to get about .001" preload on assembly. If too thin pick another from your collection, or get some made, they are only unhardened steel.

I can confirm that you cannot use the tapered roller bearings with drum brakes. Before I converted my car to disc brakes, I had a mechanic who installed the wrong bearings which made my problems worse, then concluded that my hubs were shot.

The listing for the GHK1140 tapered bearing on a number of parts suppliers sites states,

The front wheel bearings for the Cooper "S" were all originally these 'roller' bearing style. The design of the roller rather than the more common ball bearing is such that they will last much longer under higher side loading. Thus as we have developed wider rims and stickier tires it is becoming increasing critical to use roller in both the front and rear of all Minis. These bearings are not only stock in the "S" but are also a direct replacement for the ball bearing type as found on most other Minis.

So presumably, these bearings can be fitted to drum brake cars.

Have you changed any components other than the bearings ?

Did you measure the built-in spacer and overall width of both the old and the new bearings for comparison before fitting ?

Hi Alex,

The bearings are purchased from a reputable source and are branded and edtched. I also compared the dimensions, old vs new, with a slide caliper.

According to my research you can't convert drumbrakes to taper roller bearings.

 

This weekend a going to take it all apart again and will compare it with complete spare drumbrake hub.

 

 

I'm going to be careful what I type here, but be aware that not all bearings are the same - some suppliers have been known to sell awful quality bearings under genuine part numbers.  If you've purchased your replacements from a reputable source then they ought to be branded and etched with a manufacturers name.

I tested some appalling bearings for Mini Spares about 4 years ago (which were on sale by another name as genuine) and the rear ones lasted less than 60 miles...  The front ball-bearing bearings lasted ~150 even with proper grease rather than the lumpy water supplied in the sachets.  You may need to convert to taper roller bearings.

Hi Guys thanks for trying to help me out, this is appreciated !

 

unfortunately, the suggestions contradict with the fact the assembly had no play before I replaced the bearings.
Bad batch of bearings? I already ruled this out by using a different brand.

it all looks impossible but I hope to find the problem in the end, and then I will probably bang my head against the wall

 

to be continued...

Could be a worn drive flange rattling in the bearings.

GHK1018 shows that it has built in spacers so I suspect the problem is the cast-in hub spacer is too thin or the bearings are out of spec?

You need a distance spacer in between the two bearings or they will destroy themselves in quick order.

Hi there,

 I own a '72 mini with original front drum brakes. Because a bearing made to much "noise" for M.O.T.  it needed to be replaced. I decided to replace them all front & back.

but now getting problems with the front.

The bearings that came out were the SKF BA2B 417387 (with build in spacer). I replaced those with part number GHK1018. (The code on the box is VKBA 727V)

 Now both wheels on the front have movement, with the center nut tightened above normal.

i scratched  my head and the only thing i could think of was a bad batch of bearings, so i replaced one side with a different brand but also ghk1018 of course. But same problem !

 

when you tilt the wheel you can see movement between in inner ring and the outer ring of the bearing. to visualize, like the bearing balls are way to small.

I really don't know what to do...

anyone a clue?

help is much appreciated  !