Wheel bearings

[900Dave]

So I decided to remove the rear tire myself so I could have my new Kumho installed Monday.

First problem, I could not get the bottom shock bolt out. I have an Elka on the back and had this bolt out a couple of times. I had to beat the bolt out. The steel bushing that the bolt goes thru is bent. Ok I will try to straiten it out on the hydraulic press at work, if that don't work I will have the local machine shop make a new one.

So I get the rear tire off, remove the brake rotor and I cannot turn the wheel bearings by hand on either side. The only one that turns is the bearing in the sprocket. Is this normal? I would think they would turn freely. Are the wheel bearings a Warranty item? I still have 8 months left on my extended warranty.

By the way it is a 13 ST- Limited with 21,000 miles.

 

[billybovine]

This may sound odd. That's normal. The squash spacer tube is putting lateral force on the bearings. When axle is assembled the compression counter acts that. My guess when you back off compression nut the bearings will spin free.

 

[900Dave]

This may sound odd. That's normal. The squash spacer tube is putting lateral force on the bearings. When axle is assembled the compression counter acts that. My guess when you back off compression nut the bearings will spin free.

That's funny! I just said that to my wife a few minutes ago. I said that to her because I just pulled the grease seal off the side of the bearing to expose the ball bearings. Everything looked normal, plenty of grease and it showed no signs that the bearings got hot.

 

[billybovine]

That got me the first time round too.

How did you get the nut loose?

 

[900Dave]

Bearings are good:thumbup:

 

[900Dave]

here is the bent bushing for the shock. You can see the curve in it in the pic.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

BENT TUBE AND BOLT

About 2 weeks ago I posted how I jacked up the rear of all my Spyders by SPANNING the rear shock TABS with a block of wood.........Someone else then posted PICS of How BRP recommended doing it.......BY PLACING THE JACK ON THE EYE OF THE REAR SHOCK.........I wonder if that's how your bolt/tube got bent ?????.............:gaah:.Mike

 

[900Dave]

About 2 weeks ago I posted how I jacked up the rear of all my Spyders by SPANNING the rear shock TABS with a block of wood.........Someone else then posted PICS of How BRP recommended doing it.......BY PLACING THE JACK ON THE EYE OF THE REAR SHOCK.........I wonder if that's how your bolt/tube got bent ?????.............:gaah:.Mike

NOPE! I have never jacked it up on the shock. I always go on the frame in front of the swing arm. I did hit a couple of HUUUUGE potholes last year and I am thinking :yikes: . That is what probably did the damage.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

DAMAGE TO BOLT

NOPE! I have never jacked it up on the shock. I always go on the frame in front of the swing arm. I did hit a couple of HUUUUGE potholes last year and I am thinking :yikes: . That is what probably did the damage.

Actually Dave I thinking more like the dealer did it the way BRP shows how............I really can't imagine a pothole could do that to the bolt .........Mike :bbq:

 

[Gray Ghost]

About 2 weeks ago I posted how I jacked up the rear of all my Spyders by SPANNING the rear shock TABS with a block of wood.........Someone else then posted PICS of How BRP recommended doing it.......BY PLACING THE JACK ON THE EYE OF THE REAR SHOCK.........I wonder if that's how your bolt/tube got bent ?????.............Mike

I looked in the service manuals for 2013 and 2014 and both had this: "Notice Do not lift under rear shock absorber. Always lift by the frame. Refer to illustration."

Do you have a reference where BRP calls for lifting by the shock?

 

[PMK]

Jacking on the bolt is not the cause. The load to lift the Spyder is simply dead weight. When you bottomed out the rear shock, the Spyders weight is increased from the payload of riders and gear, plus stuff. Then since the bottoming out event is moving, it has G force that increases the loads.

I was told a while back that bottoming bends the spacer and bolt so it should be inspected for. It was explained to me by another SL member to replace the bolt with a high grade bolt and install a new spacer.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

SAW A PICTURE

I looked in the service manuals for 2013 and 2014 and both had this: "Notice Do not lift under rear shock absorber. Always lift by the frame. Refer to illustration."

Do you have a reference where BRP calls for lifting by the shock?

The other SL member posted a BRP manual picture !!!!!!!...............Mike :bbq:

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

THE - BOLT

Jacking on the bolt is not the cause. The load to lift the Spyder is simply dead weight. When you bottomed out the rear shock, the Spyders weight is increased from the payload of riders and gear, plus stuff. Then since the bottoming out event is moving, it has G force that increases the loads.

I was told a while back that bottoming bends the spacer and bolt so it should be inspected for. It was explained to me by another SL member to replace the bolt with a high grade bolt and install a new spacer.

So Paul what grade bolt do you think the OEM bolt is ????................Mike :bbq:

 

[Koop]

So Paul what grade bolt do you think the OEM bolt is ????................Mike :bbq:

I'm not sure the grade of the bolt is the issue. Looking at the exploded drawing in the service manual, the spacer seems to be the culprit. Unless the spacer ID and the bolt OD are a tight - near interference - fit, I think the spacer is what takes the load. If the spacer is just mild steel, shame on BRP.

 

[PMK]

As for the grade of the bolt, the person that messaged me a long time back stated he had bent both the bolt and spacers. So I would believe the enter assembly is not a high quality steel.

In regards to how the assembly fits together, the fit need not be even close to interferance since the load is in a single direction.

If the suspension is properly assembled, that bolt is final tightened with weight into the pivot, with the spacer pressed firmly against the upper edge of the bolt shank.

A better bolt can stop the bending according to the info I was sent.

 

[DrewNJ]

Bending the spacer/shaft and bolt is from bottoming out. Its actually pretty common. Swap out the spacer/bolt with new ones and ride on.
I wouldn't mess with trying to bend it back as it will only be weaker.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[DrewNJ]

Personally, I'd rather bend the bolt and spacer and swap it out once in awhile than worry about cracking the frame...cough cough...f3...cough cough....

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[Sarge707]

https://youtu.be/juVK1ogc1BA

Well If you are changing bearings (Which I will do ) I ran across a Pretty good Video of the process.
You Do need a CirlClip tool and a Spanner thing for that crazy part.
I got the spanner from a bike part someone posted YEARS ago but it might still be in the history if you do the work to search for it?ray:

 

[900Dave]

It is all back together with my new tire installed. All The bearings looked and felt really good so I did not change them.

The Spacer is not stock it is from Elka and it is a slightly larger diameter than the stock spacer. I did not replace it I had it straitened out and reinstalled it. It might bend again but I do not believe it will fail.

Before I discovered the issue I had already put some more preload in the rear spring. This should help prevent bottoming. I truly think that bottoming out is what caused the spacer and bolt to bend. I actually think it happened early last year as we had a really bad winter in 2014/15 season and we hit some huge potholes that sent spine tinglers up our backs. That is what bent the spacer imho.

I also did not balance the rear tire. My local mechanic installed the new tire but it would not fit on his spin balancer with out removing the bearing. I have read that the rear does not need to be balanced. I will take it for a quick run tomorrow (raining today) and try it out. If I feel a shake I will get some Ride On and give that a try.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

REAR TIRE BALANCING

Dave I hope you read this one..........I balanced my first rear tire change , but not the three since and never felt anything .......Mike :bbq: