GS400 Wheel bearing problems, help!

[MrZig]

I recently did the rear wheel bearings on my 78 GS400. I encountered some problems though.

Here's the deal:

Sprocket bearing is fine. It pressed in tight all the way. No play.
Brake side wheel bearing Is tough to get started, but once it's pressed in as far as it can go, you can pull it out a good quarter-half inch with your finger. It didn't 'press in tight'. More or less dropped in.
Sprocket side wheel bearing Is, again, tough to get started, and stays tough all the way until just before the end. Once it's in as far as it will go, you can pull it up and down with your finger a couple mm. Just enough to be noticable.


Is this an issue? Everything lines up nice, the shaft goes through everything nice. They wouldn't be able to move much once the spacers are in, anyways.

[reddirtrider]

To tell you the truth, that doesn't sound right. The bearings shouldn't be loose at all. This seems to me to invite even more wear in the bearing area. You may want to find another wheel.

[MrZig]

To tell you the truth, that doesn't sound right. The bearings shouldn't be loose at all. This seems to me to invite even more wear in the bearing area. You may want to find another wheel.

Yeah, I phoned up a guy I know and he said it can invite the bearing to spin around in the wheel, which woudln't be good at all. I'm going to bring it over to see what he says. It might need some machining & a sleeve..

[salty_monk]

Machining & a sleeve or you might get away with putting them in with the permanent loctite.

[MrZig]

Here's what I did. Phoned up mechanic friend and brought it over to him. He took the bearings out, then took a punch to the wheel and made a bunch of indents. What this did was make a bunch of 'barbs' so to say. After that, he put some loctite around the bearings and hammered them in - they're nice and tight!

He says it's not a permenent fix, but it'll be good enough for the life of this bike in my posession anyways. Me happy!

[reddirtrider]

Here's what I did. Phoned up mechanic friend and brought it over to him. He took the bearings out, then took a punch to the wheel and made a bunch of indents. What this did was make a bunch of 'barbs' so to say. After that, he put some loctite around the bearings and hammered them in - they're nice and tight!

He says it's not a permenent fix, but it'll be good enough for the life of this bike in my posession anyways. Me happy!

Pretty ingenious and certainly cheaper than another wheel. You may want to keep you eyes open on Ebay just in case one pops up.