Topic: Wheel bearings too tight

[Bonz55]

Hey all,

I'm in the process of putting new bearings on my new wheels. Just grabbed a pair of Lesters and some new All Balls bearings. MAN...those things are a tight fit. Am I doing something wrong? I did a bit of hammering to get them in and I've failed to get one side (front wheel) in all the way. The side with the screw cap that needs to be screwed in over it.

I have a feeling I've damaged one of the bearings. When I twist the center of the bearing with my finger, there's a small rumble feeling, unlike the smooth twist I felt on it prior to trying to get it in the wheel.

Now I'm wondering if I should try to get these out and start over with some new bearings and use a different method.

Any tips?

[540nova]

Sounds like you buggered them up. Typically, you put the new bearings in the freezer over night, and when ready to install, heat up the bearing area of the hub with a blow dryer or heat gun. Apply grease on the bearing surface, and they should easily tap in, using your old bearing on top, so you're hitting it, not the new bearing.


1974 CB450, 2006 CBR1000RR

[navydad]

Start over. If the bearing has a rough spot it is or soon will be toast. Never as in NEVER hammer on the center race of a bearing. As mentioned, freeze the new ones and if possible heat the wheel a bit. Use the old bearing to GENTLY tap in the new bearing and tap on the outer race ONLY.

[Mr Freeze]

When in doubt with bearings, freeze them first then lightly apply grease to the outer edge and work them in with a wood block

[Bonz55]

Great, thank you!!!

[NobleHops]

Bonz, i have a cheap-ass HF bearing driver set that works great for this. But definitely freeze, heat and grease as suggested.

[754]

An hour or two in a freezer is plenty.. I usually dont bother.
 Getting them to go down the bore square is the tricky part, if they cock it takes more force.
Did you hit it on the center ?

[Whaleman]

Remember one bearing fits tight and the other is floating. If you put the floating one in first and then seat the set one second it will be too tight. Dan

[rotortiller]

Cheap bearings will distort in a tight fitting mount doing exactly as you say. Use a pressing tool on the outer race to install the bearing into the wheel hub. It can be threaded bolt and a pipe, a socket and bolt/nut/plate. Maybe a heat gun will help with the bearing cooled with CO2? You don't need to use a hammer. LOL  If it's too tight relieve it with some sandpaper.

[NobleHops]

Personally I would never ever relieve an aluminum bearing pocket with sandpaper.

[Bonz55]

Thank you for the replies all. I learn the fastest by screwing up the worst.

[540nova]

Personally I would never ever relieve an aluminum bearing pocket with sandpaper.

Maybe he meant sand the bearing


1974 CB450, 2006 CBR1000RR

[rotortiller]

The bearing seating hole may have corrosion and that can cause it to be too small, taking sandpaper to remove the high spots and rust restores a decent fit. If you ever have a bearing that fits too loose you can use sleeve retainer to secure it. It's a wheel bearing not a supercharger bearing. LOL   Sometimes removing the high spots on lathe tooling tracks with sandpaper can make a bearing fit better, especially a cheap one that distorts easily under compression. However if you are too uncomfortable to use custom hand fitment methods and use sound judgement, you better stick with qualified technicians only.

rt

[540nova]

I'd use Scotchbrite over sandpaper.


1974 CB450, 2006 CBR1000RR

[NobleHops]

The bearing seating hole may have corrosion and that can cause it to be too small, taking sandpaper to remove the high spots and rust restores a decent fit. If you ever have a bearing that fits too loose you can use sleeve retainer to secure it. It's a wheel bearing not a supercharger bearing. LOL   Sometimes removing the high spots on lathe tooling tracks with sandpaper can make a bearing fit better, especially a cheap one that distorts easily under compression. However if you are too uncomfortable to use custom hand fitment methods and use sound judgement, you better stick with qualified technicians only.

rt

I guess I would differentiate between CLEANING a bearing surface (something I do a lot of including with light abrasives), and SANDING the bearing surface, because of the interference fit of a bearing I was installing. Semantics maybe.