Rear wheel bearing removal

[spiderwheels]

Yes I've removed the circlip but no amount of trying to whack the bearing through from the other side with a big hammer has managed to shift it.

Does anyone have a link to a suitable puller?

[mangocrazy]

It's a proper ball-ache (as you are finding out). The problem is the alloy tube that sits between the bearings and which stops you getting any purchase on the bearing inner race from the other side. I bought a slide hammer bearing puller kit off ebay years ago, and that was the only way that I got the bearings to budge. Once you've moved them a bit it becomes easier, but it's getting that first 2 or 3mm of initial movement that's the real pain.

[D-Rider]

If I remember correctly, when I changed mine, I had to cut the first one out before drifting the second one.

I do have a slide hammer now which I hope will help the next time I need to do this.

[spiderwheels]

I've got around the issue of the tube by using a 25mm rawl bolt through the bearing. Once tightened up it grabs the bearing and it should be possible to drift it out from the other side but it won't budge.

Perhaps I need a better surface as resting the whole lot on a pallet means the force is being absorbed by the tyre.

[D-Rider]

Maybe some gentle heat would help? - the alloy wheel should expand faster than the steel bearing.

eg pack it with rags and pour boiling water on them. I've shifted things this way before.
Obviously exercise the necessary care.

[mangocrazy]

Or a hot air gun, used judiciously. Bit less messy than boiling water.

[D-Rider]

Or a hot air gun, used judiciously. Bit less messy than boiling water.

True

[spiderwheels]

Maybe some gentle heat would help? - the alloy wheel should expand faster than the steel bearing.

eg pack it with rags and pour boiling water on them. I've shifted things this way before.
Obviously exercise the necessary care.

It turns out this is the way to do it! Thanks for the tip.

I don't own a hot air gun and my previous attempts at heating it up with a hair dryer didn't get enough heat into it to make a difference. The rag and boiling water works wonders though (and I could do it outside the garage so no worries about the mess).

The new bearings will be spending the night in the freezer...

[D-Rider]

Maybe some gentle heat would help? - the alloy wheel should expand faster than the steel bearing.

eg pack it with rags and pour boiling water on them. I've shifted things this way before.
Obviously exercise the necessary care.

It turns out this is the way to do it! Thanks for the tip.

I don't own a hot air gun and my previous attempts at heating it up with a hair dryer didn't get enough heat into it to make a difference. The rag and boiling water works wonders though (and I could do it outside the garage so no worries about the mess).

The new bearings will be spending the night in the freezer...

..... a little trick my dad showed me when I was a lad .... before the days of hot air guns


.... not quite sure why I didn't think to do this a few years back when I was struggling with the same task

[spiderwheels]

This is a wonderful sight:


It's a shame you didn't remember as it made the whole thing a 5 minute job..

That sort of thing always reminds me that I should have listened to what my mother told me when I was young...

[D-Rider]

This is a wonderful sight:


It's a shame you didn't remember as it made the whole thing a 5 minute job..

That sort of thing always reminds me that I should have listened to what my mother told me when I was young...

[blinkey501]

You can move the sleeve between the wheel bearings to one side. Then a parallel punch can be used to drift the first bearing out. Remove the tube and the second one is easily accessible.

[mangocrazy]

You can move the sleeve between the wheel bearings to one side. Then a parallel punch can be used to drift the first bearing out. Remove the tube and the second one is easily accessible.

But I've found that the problem is getting enough clearance to move the sleeve to one side. On every set I've worked on the sleeve is clamped between the bearing inners on each side and really doesn't want to move. Once you'got a couple of mm play, it all gets a lot easier.

[blinkey501]

You can move the sleeve between the wheel bearings to one side. Then a parallel punch can be used to drift the first bearing out. Remove the tube and the second one is easily accessible.

But I've found that the problem is getting enough clearance to move the sleeve to one side. On every set I've worked on the sleeve is clamped between the bearing inners on each side and really doesn't want to move. Once you'got a couple of mm play, it all gets a lot easier.

Iv'e managed it Graham, you just need to move the tube over just enough to get a good quality parralel punch onto the bearing itself.

[Viking]

When I installed the Oz wheels, I had to remove the old bearings from them. As others have said, it was a right pain in the ass.

I ended up using a Dremel tool (and a zillion cutting disks) to slice through the inner bearing surface, removing the bearings, and then carefully cutting the outer bearing surface. There was also a large amount of brute force, hammering and swearing involved.

As with SpiderWheels, the new bearings spend the night in the freezer, and the rims spent an hour or so in the hot sun before I tried installing things.