botched wheel bearings

[79-GS550-L]

Hi everyone,

I took off my wheels and rolled the inside of the bearing around, and it felt "notchy". I've been told that means replace the bearings. So I bought new bearings, and hammered out the old ones (really difficult to do!)

I haven't touched the rear wheel btw, I just started on the front. So I managed to tap the bearings most of the way in with a really large socket, then I put the old bearings up to them and tapped them the rest of the way in. I put the first bearing on and it was smooth, then I put in the spacer and the other bearing.

Unfortunately, I think I hammered the last bearing in too hard, squishing the spacer into the bearings. Now they barely turn, and when you do get them to turn they feel notchy just like the old ones. I tried tapping the new bearings out a little but they won't budge, they're in there really tight.

Have I completely wrecked these new bearings? They were like $3 each so it's not the end of the world if I did. I've got some PB blaster soaking into them right now. Any suggestions on what to do now?

[salty_monk]

Take it out again & switch it out. No need to belt them in there..... Nessism gave me a good tip for freezing them first, you can probably almost drop them in that way.

Dan

[chuckycheese]

Take it out again & switch it out. No need to belt them in there..... Nessism gave me a good tip for freezing them first, you can probably almost drop them in that way.

Dan

Is that really true??? If so, that sounds like a pretty neat trick, indeed! Ness?

[KRISTI'SGS550]

if you freeze them, save yourself a head ache and put them in a plastic freezer safe zip lock first. This will prevent moisture in your bearings later.

Cory

[chef1366]

I use the old bearings to tap in the new ones. I need to try the freezer trick but probably won't be changing mine again anytime soon.

[79-GS550-L]

thanks for the suggestions. I guess I will order 2 new front wheel bearings then, and go a little easier on them next time. And I will definitely freeze them next time!

[rockford]

Moisture?

if you freeze them, save yourself a head ache and put them in a plastic freezer safe zip lock first. This will prevent moisture in your bearings later.

Cory

How many seconds of riding time could it stay there?8-[

[earlfor]

Yeah, putting the new bearings in the freezer for an hour will make installing them quite a bit easier. Also, if you have an electric hot air gun (as usually used for paint stripping, with a heating element, not a flame), if immediately before dropping in the cold bearings, you take the heat gun and warm the aluminum hub to about 150 deg. You will almost be able to literally "drop" the bearings into place.

Warming the outside of the aluminum hub will also help in removing the old bearings.

Earl

Is that really true??? If so, that sounds like a pretty neat trick, indeed! Ness?

[catbed]

since were talking about wheel bearings and all, should i replace mine since i have the tires off? they turn pretty slow, and im sure they havent been touched since the factory.

[robertbarr]

Well, too bad about the deceased bearings, but I wonder how they came to be damaged. The bore in the wheel limits travel, right? I mean, that's pretty much the whole idea. It shouldn't be possible for you to drive either bearing too deeply; you drive them until they bottom. At that point, you get that tactile and audio confirmation that you're done.

The center spacer couldn't have gotten longer (unless you have a number of disassembled bikes, and somehow swapped one model's for another... which isn't very likely.)

It looks like you were careful to apply force to just the outer race, using an old bearing as a drift. So -- what went wrong? You didn't inadvertently nail the inner race, did you?

(And while I'm here -- as for getting bike bearings out, this tool can't be beat:

http://www.4strokes.com/reviews/pitposse/wbremover/

)


RB

[earlfor]

They're sealed bearings. They are not supposed to spin like an open ball bearing on a sliding door. :-) Its smoothness that is important. Putting a finger through the center and applying some pressure, turned slowly, they should rotate with no feel of uneveness, catching or wobble. As long as they have no free play and are smooth, you should be fine.

Earl

since were talking about wheel bearings and all, should i replace mine since i have the tires off? they turn pretty slow, and im sure they havent been touched since the factory.

[catbed]

sweet. no dragging for me!

[chef1366]

Look in the Yellow pages for a ball bearing shop and bring your old ones and match them up. No shipping costs plus you'll save money.

[KRISTI'SGS550]

How many seconds of riding time could it stay there?8-[

It could stay there quite a while, the bearings are sealed aren't they?

Cory

[Shin-Ken 1074]

Earlfor is spot on the money with the freezer and hot air for hub, works very well. Have done this for years on lots of bike bearing jobs and other vehicles including rear axle bearings on my ute ( US - read Pickup Truck), in that case you freeze the axle and heat the bearing, not to much. As mentioned earlier a good idea is to use the old bearing shell to press in the new bearing. I grind down the old shell about 2-3 mm to prevent it jamming in the housing on top of the new bearing.