Went to inspect the rear wheel bearings and replace the seals in accordance with the maintenance schedule. I was surprised by two things. First was the accumulation of brake dust in the rear hub. The second was the fact the bearing on the hub side is floating, not securely positioned in the hub. See pictures below. Certainly not what I would expect having never seen this in 30 years of working on vehicles. It looks like the hub spacer was scored on the side as well indicating a bit wobble at some point.
Is this normal or is the rear wheel hub bad? Nothing in the factory manual or how-to videos showed this type of tolerance for the bearing.
I don't think that's brake dust at all. It looks to me to be the rubber from the drive cushions.
Check to see if the rubber drive cushions are tight. They should be very tight and are (usually) directional.
(I don't remember on the Spyder, but most have a thick side and thin side, with the thick side being on the side of acceleration.)
The wheel bearings should be VERY tightly fitted in the housing. If yours are loose, then that is not right. What could be happening is the bearing is loose, causing the whole assembly to wobble, which is causing the excessive wear of the rubber cushions or vice versa. Either way, unfortunately I think you've got a major problem.
Pull the bearing and look at the aluminum housing. If it's scored and the bearing is loose, then the housing (either carrier or wheel or both depending) is bad and needs to be replaced, along with the rubber cushions.
Rubber cushions are a normal wear item and should be checked at every tire change. If they start to loosen up, then they need to be replaced. Depending on the year of your Spyder there is also a rubber sealing washer that should be checked and replaced as needed.
The bearings are so tight that they should have to be removed with a tool with absolutely no lateral movement at all.
Thanks for the tips. Rubber bumbers are still tight, but I see how the dust can be rubber rather than brake. The loose bearing is on the brake rotor side, which made me think of brake dust first. Either way, looks like new hub time.
So apparently the part number for the 2011 RT Limited Silver rear hub is no longer available. The number in the parts fiche is 705501119. I am having trouble cross-referencing the part number 705501531 from @billybovine above with the part number in the 2011 Fiche. I have done a good job of buying the wrong parts for our Spyder because of BRP's variations. As such, is there a good resource so I can confirm the appropriate cross-reference for my model and year Spyder?
705501531 I listed is for a 2012 and is listed as available. You did not share the model year and model in your first post so I guessed it was a RT something with a silver gray color. All hubs will fit except for color.
Cheap cycle parts is listing 705501531 as obsolete and showing 705503032 as the replacement. But it looks like they are substituting this part for both silver and black.
Ensure you check the pulley bearing bore as it will be worn also.
Agreed. You earlier mentioned that the rubber cushions were tight, but with that much material being shed I doubt they are as tight as they should be. Those need to be replaced also. In fact, with that much damage, you really need to do a total rebuild in order to ensure safety and reliability.
Questions About Loose Rear Wheel Bearing
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Originally Posted by Freddy
