Changing wheel bearings tomorrow - quick bit of advice needed

[tony.mon]

Yes, for pre schools.


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[MacV2]

Yes, for pre schools.

You'll fit right in then...hehehehehe...

[TheGingerBeardMan]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...Dont clock face them when driving in...Should be done square...

Well blow me (erm...not literally). I was always told to start them in with a clock face tap. Once they were about 5-7mm in (past the bearing bevel), then I sit new bearing on top and hammer in schmartly. That went for crank case bearings as well. Was an old guy of about 80 years old that gave that advice to me years ago. He been dead for donkeys, but I've always done 'em like that.

Hmmm - well, JCH, ignore my advice (I'm asking you to!), and follow Macs instead. He's younger than the old fart wot advised me (tho not by much), and things/methods have obviously advanced since back then.

[jchesshyre]

I'm so grateful for everyone's help. What a great site this is.

So, I have partial success which hopefully tomorrow will become total success. The drive side bearing came out immediately with no fuss. However, the extremely knackered disc side one was a total butt. The inner race came out on its own along with some ball bearings which had been reduced to hemispheres So I had to resort to cutting the outer race with a Dremel and prising it out in pieces with a screwdriver. Eventually after about an hour and a half of keeping mostly patient and abstaining from swearing, it was all out with only very slight damage to the inner hub, not enough for me to worry about.

Then, I damaged one of the new bearings by using a socket *slightly* too small (30mm). As luck would have it, I have a spare bearing for the sprocket carrier of my CB500 which is the same size. So tomorrow I'll buy a slightly bigger socket or a bearing driver (or alternatively might try this filing down the old bearing and using that trick) and hopefully all will be well.

I changed the cush drive rubbers recently so they're fine. The sprocket carrier bearing feels totally smooth and good so I'll save changing that till it goes. My chain has a tight link already so I'll be changing it this week when I have a day off work. I know I should do it tomorrow whilst the wheel's off but I have other things I need to do tomorrow...

My nice Honda dealer sold me two Japanese sealed bearings for £5 each (compared to £20 each for Honda ones) - does this seem OK? I haven't had time to go round trying other places.

Will post again tomorrow when it's all done, maybe with some shocking pictures of the very sorry looking old bearing

[KermitLeFrog]

Would be alright for me, the next village is called Seal.

Aaah, happy days. The Crown Point Inn.

[tony.mon]

Sadly that pubs now a business centre.
And good luck with filing a bearing.......

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[KermitLeFrog]

Sadly that pubs now a business centre.
And good luck with filing a bearing.......

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I think my memory has failed me. The Crown Point was on the road to Wrotham, on the top of the hill on the right hand side, slightly off the road? The pub I'm thinking of was the last one out of Seal, on the right hand side, just before the hill. Was that just called the "Crown". Eeee, so many years ago.

[AMCQ46]

use a grinder to reduce the size of the old bearing outer race, its hardened so you won't make any impact with a file or sand paper...., then you can use it as the drift. good luck

[jchesshyre]

I don't have a huge amount of time tomorrow so may just be lazy and invest in a 32mm socket...

[KermitLeFrog]

Sadly that pubs now a business centre.
And good luck with filing a bearing.......

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Taking a trip down memory lane (Seal Hollow Road, via Street View...). I'm sure the girl's school was Walthamstow Hall, now called Trinity? Eeeek. And the pub, it WAS the Crown. As you say, not a pub any more.

It all looks so small now. Narrow roads, loads of cars. I must go back there some time. On a nostalgia trip.

[vardypeeps]

Does the rear wheel have a side in the hub with a larger opening (same as the front) to move the spacer out of the way?

[AMCQ46]

Does the rear wheel have a side in the hub with a larger opening (same as the front) to move the spacer out of the way?

yes it has......... but I can never remember which side it is till I get the bearing out So it is always a good tactic to try from the other side if you have problems moving the inner spacer enough to get your drift onto the bearing inner race.

[jchesshyre]

So, I ended up having an easy time yesterday installing the new bearings. Although the bad sounds from the rear wheel only started on Thursday, I think there must have been a little play for a while as the handling has been feeling a tiny bit odd for some time which I've put down to needing a new front tyre and/or new shock. I now feel a big difference - much more stable.

FYI a Halfords 34mm impact socket makes a perfect driver for installing rear wheel bearings!

The crack sound when I put the bike on the stand after a ride is still there so I'll need to look at the suspension linkage soon.

Here's the ruined bearing after extraction - the race was split by me but look at the two destroyed balls top left!

[TheGingerBeardMan]

Hellfire JCH - are you sure that's the remains of a wheel bearing? It looks more like what's left of a car after an IED has blown it up.

No wonder you had a slight graunching noise! Nice new bearings (with PROPER round balls) will make the world of difference methinks! - it'll be a whole new ride altogther!

Yup - check linkages, and get things greased up (I use Silkolene Pro RG2 Red grease for stuff like that). It may all just be bone dry? Fingers crossed. And this isn't meant to sound patronizing, as yer a grown man, but well done for tackling it and seeing it through! Lesser mortals would have said ''feck it'' and shoved it in to a wallet draining workshop.

[jchesshyre]

Cheers for all the very nice encouragement I had with this from y'all

I've since had the rear shock replaced (with a Hagon one) and the shock linkage bearings overhauled (I was lazy and took it to my local garage for these). The handling's much nicer now, not surprisingly.

I've also replaced the front wheel bearings myself (which developed play soon after I did the rear ones!) and the sprocket carrier bearing. These all came out with no problems at all. Wow the sprocket carrier one's a big 'un!

So, I'm no longer scared of changing bearings! Next time my steering head bearings need changing maybe I'll give these a go myself as well