Page 1 of 1

Rear wheel bearing removal

Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2019 5:13 pm
by 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?

Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2019 9:39 pm
by 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.

Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2019 9:19 am
by 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.

Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2019 10:08 am
by 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.

Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2019 11:22 am
by 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.

Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2019 10:41 pm
by mangocrazy
Or a hot air gun, used judiciously. Bit less messy than boiling water.

Posted: Wed Nov 06, 2019 6:52 pm
by D-Rider
mangocrazy wrote:Or a hot air gun, used judiciously. Bit less messy than boiling water.
True

Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2019 1:26 pm
by spiderwheels
D-Rider wrote: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...

Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2019 1:54 pm
by D-Rider
spiderwheels wrote:
D-Rider wrote: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

Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2019 2:34 pm
by spiderwheels
This is a wonderful sight:
Image

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...

Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2019 9:30 am
by D-Rider
spiderwheels wrote:This is a wonderful sight:
Image

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...
:smt023 :smt023 :smt023

Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2019 7:04 am
by 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.

Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2019 10:46 pm
by mangocrazy
blinkey501 wrote: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.

Posted: Tue Nov 19, 2019 5:19 am
by blinkey501
mangocrazy wrote:
blinkey501 wrote: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.

Re: Rear wheel bearing removal

Posted: Sun Dec 29, 2019 11:08 pm
by 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.