Rear wheel bearing removal

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spiderwheels
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Rear wheel bearing removal

#1 Post by spiderwheels » Mon Nov 04, 2019 5:13 pm

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?
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#2 Post by mangocrazy » Mon Nov 04, 2019 9:39 pm

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.

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#3 Post by D-Rider » Tue Nov 05, 2019 9:19 am

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.
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#4 Post by spiderwheels » Tue Nov 05, 2019 10:08 am

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.
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#5 Post by D-Rider » Tue Nov 05, 2019 11:22 am

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.
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#6 Post by mangocrazy » Tue Nov 05, 2019 10:41 pm

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

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#7 Post by D-Rider » Wed Nov 06, 2019 6:52 pm

mangocrazy wrote:Or a hot air gun, used judiciously. Bit less messy than boiling water.
True
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#8 Post by spiderwheels » Thu Nov 07, 2019 1:26 pm

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...
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#9 Post by D-Rider » Thu Nov 07, 2019 1:54 pm

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
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#10 Post by spiderwheels » Thu Nov 07, 2019 2:34 pm

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...
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#11 Post by D-Rider » Fri Nov 08, 2019 9:30 am

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
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#12 Post by blinkey501 » Sat Nov 16, 2019 7:04 am

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.
Tolerance will be our undoing.

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#13 Post by mangocrazy » Sat Nov 16, 2019 10:46 pm

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.

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#14 Post by blinkey501 » Tue Nov 19, 2019 5:19 am

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.
Tolerance will be our undoing.

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Re: Rear wheel bearing removal

#15 Post by Viking » Sun Dec 29, 2019 11:08 pm

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.
It's the V-twin thing. There's just something about it that inline-4s don't have at all, and V-4s don't have enough of.

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