Hi everybody.
I just did the bearing replacement and all seals this winter (hibernation season if you live in New England) on my '68 280 SL.
I guess we have a little confusion when it comes to the proper bearings and perhaps I can help:
Here are the bearings you'll need; they can be obtained using the description below:
The left hand bearing is a standard "deep groove single row ball bearing - DIN 625 - 6208" ID 40mm x OD 80mm x 18 wide. (Open - no seals)
The right hand bearing is a "single row spherical roller bearing - DIN 635 - 20208" - Same dimensions as the left side.
DIN stands for = Deutsche Industrie Norm (German industrial standard)
Even though the standard ball bearing will fit on the right side as well, the spherical (also commonly called self-aligning) bearing is required because the pivot point of the right side swing axel is not in line with the pivot point of the drive shaft.
If the same ball bearing as on the left side is being used on the right side it will not last long since it cannot take the misalignment forces onto the outer race that the swing of the axle causes due to the offset of the pivot points.
In other words: the outer race of the bearing cannot be fixed - therefore a spherical bearing is required.
I was able to obtain both bearings from my local bearing supplier using the above descriptions without any problems; however, the spherical bearing took a couple of days to come in and did cost around $80.00 if I remember correctly
I also have no retaining rings (circlips) on my shafts. I do not see any purpose (at least not in my car) for them since the inner race of the bearings is retained on the shafts with the spanner nut and the outer race by the parking brake mounting plate, thus nothing can move.
Furthermore, the right side shaft has to be able to move in and out slightly within the splined bushing anyway due to the same reason of pivot off-set.
After all it was not such a difficult job to do. I did not need any shaft removal fixture; I just used a slide hammer for the removal of both shafts. For the installation of the new radial seals I used an appropriate size socket and a hammer. However, since the outer race of the right side spherical bearing can tilt during installation it needs to be kept aligned properly to slide back into the bore of the tube. I used a punch to straighten out the outer race through the bolt holes of the brake mounting plate while pulling the whole thing in with the plate mounting screws.
Don’t forget to pack the bearings and the tube cavity with grease before the installation.
Hopefully this helps a little….
Glad to be part of the group, Urban