Topic: Front Wheel bearing stuck

[Nayl]

Working on removing the front wheel bearings on my '76 F1, I generally tend to bugger up anything that involves improvised driving/hammering, so I went and got the Harbor Freight blind puller for  the job.  And it fits just fine.  Thing is, after about a solid half hour of whacking away with that three pound slide hammer, I'm getting zero movement.  Tried the other side, same deal.  I very much doubt anyone ever had this wheel apart before (I had to drill out the marks in  the retainer)  so what's stopping me? 

[evanphi]

Apply heat with a propane torch.

Try again.

[jamesw]

If the 76F is the same as my 75K, what I did that worked was put the wheel on a saw horse, hammer the center of the bearing (I used an old axle as a punch).....after a few whacks, you should see the opposite bearing on the flip side move out a bit. Then you should be able to slide the inner collar to one side. After doing this, get a screwdriver and hit the end of the screwdriver and drive the bearing out using the collar.

[Nayl]

If the 76F is the same as my 75K

I doubt there's any difference, do you recall if you did this from the speedo drive side or the other?

Apply heat with a propane torch.

Tried that just now, assuming that I should be heating the hub to get it to expand away from the bearing.  Hit the hub flange that surrounds the bearing for a solid three minutes or so, don't know how hot it really got, but made zero difference to pulling the bearing.  I hesitate to get more aggressive than propane with heating an aluminum hub, maybe get some dry ice next and try it on the bearing.

[PeWe]

Electric heat gun work really well for bearings (before mounting or removing), making carb boots soft, fork seals before removal and before mounting new seals. 17 USD version here has worked for a copule of years with my CB750 restore
http://www.biltema.se/sv/Verktyg/Elverktyg/Ovrigt/Varmluftspistol-20-kW-2000021758/

[jamesw]

I don't recall off hand. I can check in the morning as Im at work right now. I followed the steps in Hondaman's book for replacing bearings, and it worked like a charm.

Once you can move the collar and hit with the screwdriver driving it out, it comes right out. I had the original bearings in there too.

[przjohn]

Heat it with a torch until the grease in the bearing catches fire. With all due respect to previous posts, don't waste your time with a heat gun, more heat the faster, the better. You want that hub to get hot real fast and not the bearing.

[Nayl]

Well, that was educational.  Something to be said for the "use a bigger hammer" approach, or, in this case, if one propane torch isn't doing the job, use two.  After two failed attempts where I was getting the distinct feeling I wasn't getting enough heat fast enough, I broke out the second torch and after a solid five or six minutes of hitting both sides of the hub at once (by which point the slide weight was actually getting warm) it finally popped out.

[flybox1]

Yeah...that job always calls for a BFH.

[70CB750]

I had good experience with Mapp gas, price but heats well.

[nobody]

I've been glaring at my wheel bearings for a couple weeks now, they're glaring back at me too.

I don't have the spanner tool for the retainers, and can't get the front speedo assembly to release after disconnecting everything.
A local shop says they'll change the four bearings and balance my wheels for $100-120, seems steep but the labor also seems intensive.

[flybox1]

I've been glaring at my wheel bearings for a couple weeks now, they're glaring back at me too.

I don't have the spanner tool for the retainers, and can't get the front speedo assembly to release after disconnecting everything.
A local shop says they'll change the four bearings and balance my wheels for $100-120, seems steep but the labor also seems intensive.

You dont need no spanner tool for the retainers.    Drill out the stakes, and use a punch and a BFH to spin it out.
Clean the threads of the hub and the retainer.  Install it on top of your new bearings. Use the punch to spin it tight. 
Add a few new stakes.  Done