A Tale of Two Bearings

[Gray Ghost]

When pulling my rear wheel to change tires I found that one of the bearings was bad (about 26K miles). The three closest dealers did not have the bearings or seals on hand. So I ordered them from Gearhead and proceeded to remove the old bearings. I tried using a slide hammer blind bearing puller on the rim bearing but it wouldn't budge. Tried to drive it out from the rear, still wouldn't budge. Purchased a pilot bearing puller set but it wouldn't work either. So when I got the new bearings in I took the wheel and hub to a machinist for assistance.

To get the bearing out of the hub he put it in his press. Took 5 tons of pressure to finally get it out. The rim was too big to fit into his press, so he tried to drive it out from the rear as well. The bearing popped and the top half came out, with the bottom still in the rim. He was finally able to finesse the rest of the bearing out and got the replacements in without issue.

The photo shows the whole bearing from the rim and the pieces from the hub.

 

[Bob Denman]

:shocked: That does NOT look like fun. :yikes:
Several years ago (Before you joined up.), there was a lot of discussion about changing those bearings. Some folks will change them with each tire change, and some swap them out at every other tire change.

I think that I'll stick with replacing them at each tire change. :thumbup:

 

[zuni]

When pulling my rear wheel to change tires I found that one of the bearings was bad (about 26K miles). The three closest dealers did not have the bearings or seals on hand. So I ordered them from Gearhead and proceeded to remove the old bearings. I tried using a slide hammer blind bearing puller on the rim bearing but it wouldn't budge. Tried to drive it out from the rear, still wouldn't budge. Purchased a pilot bearing puller set but it wouldn't work either. So when I got the new bearings in I took the wheel and hub to a machinist for assistance.

To get the bearing out of the hub he put it in his press. Took 5 tons of pressure to finally get it out. The rim was too big to fit into his press, so he tried to drive it out from the rear as well. The bearing popped and the top half came out, with the bottom still in the rim. He was finally able to finesse the rest of the bearing out and got the replacements in without issue.

The photo shows the whole bearing from the rim and the pieces from the hub.
View attachment 97836

Yuck, curious what others who have replaced their bearings have experienced. Really hope your's is not the standard. Glad you were successful in the end.

CJ JAX

 

[Chupaca]

Bummer..!!

That was quite a chore. They must have overheated at some point and welded themselves in. Never seen that in my experiance with bikes. Glad it finalli came out without damaging the hub...:yikes:

 

[jtoro1]

Can you give us the part # of bearing and the seals I have the bearings but not the seals . Did the new bearings go in with no problems.

 

[agasperino]

Bearing

Did it give you any warning that it was bad,a noise or a vibration?

 

[Gray Ghost]

Can you give us the part # of bearing and the seals I have the bearings but not the seals . Did the new bearings go in with no problems.

Yes, they went in with no problems. Ball Bearing - 293350067; Seal - 293200094

 

[Gray Ghost]

Did it give you any warning that it was bad,a noise or a vibration?

I check bearings whenever I have a wheel off. In this case one of the bearings was a bit sloppy when I checked it, so I replaced both of them. There was no noise or vibration.

 

[DrewNJ]

....

 

[Roadster Renovations]

Good thread. Thanks for posting! I think I need to pull my wheel and check mine (13k on them)

Also, and since we are on the topic of bearings, what about the front ones? Anyone ever have any wear out? And if so, how long?

 

[edmarino]

If the bearing fit is to tight , you will lose the bearings designed tolerance and the bearing will run hot. Could be why you had a short life on bearing.

 

[Gray Ghost]

If the bearing fit is to tight , you will lose the bearings designed tolerance and the bearing will run hot. Could be why you had a short life on bearing.

These were the original bearings that came on the bike from the factory, and the replacement bearings went in with the normal amount of effort. When I was watching the video Lamont posted about changing the rear tire he also found a bad bearing. IIRC he was at about 52K miles and it was the second time he had replaced them, so I surmise that having to change at 26K is not an abnormal occurrence.