| Author | Message | ||
     Terrycoxusa |
After reading many posts about the weak rear wheel bearings, I decided I better change mine at 13k, just in case. I tapped them out from the back side, one seemed to be perfect, and the right side had some rust externally and was just a smidge rough. I bought OEM bearings from Harley and the new internal bearing spacer and carefully tapped in the bearings with a piece of oak and a ball peen hammer. Used a torque wrench and followed the tightening procedure on the axle nut.Total cost was $60, not bad for the piece of mind. | ||
| Motorbike |
Please let us know how long the new bearings last. I have always preached that you cannot just hammer the bearings in and expect good results. Maybe you can prove me wrong. Of course, if I were out in the middle of nowhere and all I had was a hammer and block of wood, I would hammer them in to get home and then replace them the proper way when I got home. | ||
| Rayycc1 |
yeah... i hope it works out for you...Beating them in with a hammer has never produced long lasting results for me on any bike | ||
| Jstav2012 |
I just did mine, and beat them in with a seal driver after the wheel was heated with a hair dryer, and the bearings had sat in the freezer overnight. I can't see how putting the force on the OD would cause problems. Now if you beat the inner race with a socket and hammer, or were not precisely on the outer race, then that may be cause for concern. On another funny note, I overtightened the crap out of the front axle because I didn't know my torque wrench wouldn't work in that direction! doh! At least I have still have the front replacement bearings if I messed anything up. I guess I could have crushed the spacer a little, but I'll just keep an eye on those front bearing temps. | ||
| Motorbike |
Jstav2012, if the bearings are installed properly, the outer race of the rotor side bearing will seat on the ridge machined into the hub. The sprocket side outer race WILL NOT seat against the ridge. If you pound the outer race of the sprocket side bearing in until it won't go anymore, you will have a misalignment of the inner and outer race on both bearings because the spacer tube will be pushing the inner races towards the outside of the hub. When installed properly, the inner and outer races of both bearings will be perfectly in line with each other and there will be no sideways pressure on either bearing so they will last longer. I don't know how to explain it any other way. | ||
| Jstav2012 |
I totally understand what you are saying, and I took this into account. I first installed the rotor side flush, then tapped in the sprocket side until it just touched the spacer. Then I torqued the axle using the two step method in the manual (which I believes kind of "squares" them up.) I agree that trying to seat the OD of the sprocket side bearing is not good. Mine look okay, and I've touched them after rides to monitor their temperature. | ||
| Motorbike |
Jstav2012, please accept my apologies. For some reason I just assumed that you pounded the outer race in all the way. It sounds like you did a good job even though you didn't press the bearings in. I'm guessing they will do just fine. Thanks. | ||
| Surfsofa |
I'm not totally comfortable with my front bearing installation after the guy who put them in used the old hammer-them-home method using a flat disc across the top of the races, so I'm guessing equal force on both. I was watching, but didn't know too much about bearing installation at the time, and of course the guy who did said he'd done many this way etc. I do recall that when tapped home the spacer could still be moved, just, so I'm guessing no damage was done to the inner races (as Motorbike describes). I've done 2000 miles on them already and all seems to be fine. I've no idea what would be considered 'normal' temperature for the bearings to be after a ride. Could someone try to describe the difference between 'about right' and 'too hot, something may be wrong' and where I should be touching? Thanks. | ||
| Terrycoxusa |
Motorbike, assuming that the fit is not so tight that it requires a lot of force applied by a hydraulic press, I don't think that tapping in the bearings is any better or worse than pressing them in or using all thread rod. None of the methods will insure a perfectly square installation. As far as pounding it in too far, I would think that a press would be the greater threat there. I just got back from a 900 miles trip on the new bearings, so far, so good. | ||
| Sagehawk |
Just grab a cheap laser thermometer somewhere. Shoot at inner race and outer race before ride when at ambient temperature. Then shoot again down the road a piece. See what temp gain you have. Do this over time, several times. Average in your head. This would be the norm for your bike. Every bike will probably be different. Its the time over temp average that youll know what is good. When trouble does come , there will be a base line for comparison. I do this with oil lines and other components on my equipment just to know. Not all like this system i use but its useful to me . | ||
| Uly_man |
"and the right side had some rust externally and was just a smidge rough". These were toast and did need replacing. They would have failed very soon otherwise. This is a salutatory tale and something that ALL should take note of. For the sake of using a free tool, "eyes and ears", and a piddly 60 bucks Terry has averted a big and costly problem. I am not saying that it is the case with Uly wheel bearings but some parts on some bikes need more attention than would be the case on others. All I am saying is do the checks on your bike as they should be done. You could end up on your ass otherwise. |
