Garage near Aylesbury (Buckinghamshire) for front axle seals/bearings

They seem to mainly work on Lamborghinis & TVRs - there was even a Huracan on a lift when I went in!

Good to hear about the ball though, that's one less expense/worry.

Well that looks a bit better! Turns out it was the lower kingpin bearing in the end.

I have exactly the same problem, heard a slight rattle from the front end, looked underneath and grease all over the swivel joint, even got splattering on inside tyre wall. Same on both sides. Can someone confirm that I need to order "kingpin bearings and swivel seal" £48 a side from bigjimny store. Thanks

That's correct.

Thanks

got my bearings and seals from bigjimny shop and my local garage changed them both. They too were concerned about the balls being pitted and potentially ripping the seals. Martin says this is all quite normal, so should i be concerned ?

It is quite normal, so no need to be concerned. The seals don't hold oil in, they keep the dirt out.

Your garage is correct though, fitting seals to a pitted surface will simply reduce the seal life and impact it's function. This eventually will cause the Kingpin bearings to fail prematurely due to dirt/water ingress, any play is an MOT failure. This play can also cause the axle oil seal to leak, this then shows as an "oil leak" from the swivel and oil on the tyre / wheel that people see.

You can't change the swivel "ball", so that's why most live with early life failure of the kingpin bearings and just accept they may need changing even few years. The only other option is to refurbish the swivel surface with a paint coating. Costs money and time, so most don't bother.

Many thanks for your reply. I can live with that, you've put my mind at rest so thanks again