front wheel bearings in too far? gs550

[Guest]

Hello there, just tapped a couple of new front wheel bearings into my gs550 and noticed that now the inner races seem to be bound against the spacer, i can spin them but its very difficult, almost like i've tapped the bearings in too far

have i tapped them in too far? or is something else wrong here

they are all balls, same size as ones i took out, tapped in with socket on outer race (so bearings shouldnt be damaged)

its looking like i'll have to destroy one and replace with one not tapped in as far in order for it not to bind on the spacer,

let me know if i'm missing something guys, cheers, George

[fastbysuzuki]

it sounds like you have installed them correctly My guess is when you put the wheel back it will spin freely and be ok.
The inner race's will be just touching the spacer making it a little tight to turn.

[2BRacing]

The inner races are an interference fit on the axle, so do not usually turn with the wheel. Push the axle in and spin the wheel before mounting on the bike, to see if anything is binding.

[Monkeypeas]

The inner races are an interference fit on the axle, so do not usually turn with the wheel. Push the axle in and spin the wheel before mounting on the bike, to see if anything is binding.

if i push the spindle through and spin it, the whole thing rotates on the spindle (i'e the bearing doesnt turn the inner race and outer race stay fixed it all just spins on the spindle)

so as of right now its all turning with the wheel the bearing seems to be doing nothing, hence my concern, this is off the bike though, not tried bolting it in and seeing what happens

[2BRacing]

Before removing / replacing a bearing, mount the wheel in the bike and see what happens.

[standswithabeer]

first we'd have to assume that the new bearings are exactly the same width as the old, even a few thou difference can cause binding issues. and the bearing seats were cleaned prior to install. a few thou of crud will cause probs.

if you could tap the bearings in too far, the the outer race would be inboard slightly of the inner race, but there is a shelf that the bearing seats against to prevent that. if you didn't tap the bearings in fully against the shelf, then the outer race would be slightly outboard of the inner race.

one hears a definite change in noise when tapping in bearings, when they finally seat. this is easier to discern if you chilled the bearings in your fridge for a few hours and heated the hub for awhile with your wife's hairdrier.

my only guess is that one or more bearings isn't fully seated.

[Monkeypeas]

Before removing / replacing a bearing, mount the wheel in the bike and see what happens.

how will i know if the bearing is working properly though?, surely the whole thing will just spin on the spindle like it is out of the bike, presumably destroying the spindle down the road as the potentially stuck inner races spin around on it

jeez i thought getting the old bearings out would be the pain

just to clarify, the spacer that sits inbetween the bearings appears to be touching both the inner races and stopping them from turning freely, both bearings are as seated in the wheel as they're gonna get, its almost like either the spacer is too long, the inner races of the all balls bearings are too thick, or the bearings are just pressed too close together, which, how or why i have no idea.

[Tom R]

I had the same problem with a set of all balls bearings a couple years ago. I’m sure they were set properly, but when I gave the outer races a few taps with the driver, it bound up the inner races. I took it apart and put a
different set of bearings in there from bearing headquarters and all was well. I dunno.... either all balls quality control or two cases of installer error, but I’ve done this dozens of times and only ran up against this issue that once.

[TxGSrider]

When I installed new bearings on my wheels I kept second guessing my work and that I had messed up something. I drove real slow waiting for something to lock up suddenly. After a few miles I got to feeling comfortable.

I suppose its better to be certain before you hit the road.

[fastbysuzuki]

how will i know if the bearing is working properly though?, surely the whole thing will just spin on the spindle like it is out of the bike, presumably destroying the spindle down the road as the potentially stuck inner races spin around on it

jeez i thought getting the old bearings out would be the pain

just to clarify, the spacer that sits inbetween the bearings appears to be touching both the inner races and stopping them from turning freely, both bearings are as seated in the wheel as they're gonna get, its almost like either the spacer is too long, the inner races of the all balls bearings are too thick, or the bearings are just pressed too close together, which, how or why i have no idea.

If you look at the spacer/s they have a raised spigot that goes against the inner ball race when everything is tightened up the inner races are forced against the inner spacer so they cannot rotate.
you are over thinking this put it back together raise the front end of the floor and if the wheel spins freely ride and enjoy.
for info you can get almost any bearing and oil seal from "simply bearings" look for Koyo, skf not budget. for wheel bearings choose bearing numbers ending 2rs ex 63022rs ( fitted with rubbler seals) not the cheap tin seals fitted from new.

[standswithabeer]

one other thing, my gs550 service manual says to install and seat the wheel bearing on the speedo drive first.

[Nessism]

All-Balls has some good instructions that has pics showing correct & incorrect installs: https://www.cyclepedia.com/manuals/o...heel-bearings/


The bearing inner race should be in contact with the spacer:



If you use a socket that only contacts the outer race, its easy to end up with an incorrect install like this:

This is good information. You can't just drive the bearings in until they bottom out in the wheel because that's too deep sometimes. I learned this lesson the hard way.

[fastbysuzuki]

I use the All-Balls kits. Are the Koyo & “SKF not budget” bearings better those from All-Balls?
Any recommended source for them in the US?

Koyo, Skf, f a g, rhp, Ina, timken and some others are classed as high quality there are others, all balls are not one, likely bought in in bulk from Far East at a price.
i worked in maintenance engineering all my working life I am familiar with bearing choice. We had a purchasing dept and on one job they purchased some bearings from Poland (cheaply) the job was on a high speed machine two of us spent 6 hours fitting them tested the kit it ran for around 15 seconds and siezed up compleatly, bearings disintegrated.
unfortunalty being in uk I cannot tell you where to shop in the USA but do a search for bearing suppliers or engineering factors.

[Nessism]

All Balls bearings are "good enough". They are speced with the appropriate amount of internal clearance and the proper grease for use in our bikes. There are better bearings out there but I'd be careful to do some research before purchase.

[Monkeypeas]

thanks for all your help guys, luckily the gs550 is sort of a side project/toy anyway so i can experiment with it all i want, i've ordered another couple sets of bearings for the front so i'll have a fiddle and see what happens, probably going to see if i can find a better way of removing the bearings other than the dremel aswell, there must be something i can get or make to pull them or wedge in the inner races so i can tap them out without pulling them to pieces, cheers, George.