when to replace wheel bearings

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maylar

maylar

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My 74 850 has about 40,000 miles and the rear hub has never been apart. Always garaged, never exposed to the elements (other than whilst riding it). The wheel spins freely with no noises. Is there any reason to change the bearings "just because" ? How long do they last?
 
maylar said:
My 74 850 has about 40,000 miles and the rear hub has never been apart. Always garaged, never exposed to the elements (other than whilst riding it). The wheel spins freely with no noises. Is there any reason to change the bearings "just because" ? How long do they last?
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If they are well greased I wouldn't worry about them,just keep up regulator maintenance they give you a lot of warning when they start to go
 
baz said:
If they are well greased I wouldn't worry about them,just keep up regulator maintenance they give you a lot of warning when they start to go
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Thanks. They were greased at the factory.
 
I either replace wheel bearing when I do a full rebuild of a wheel or if it gets noisy or too much play at the rim, done lots of wheel rebuilds and only ever replaced one set for too much play and never for noise.
 
No jet wash, ever. Thing is I bought a couple sealed bearings 10-12 years ago for this and the're sitting in my parts bin. For all I know they're dried out (?) by now. I've spun the wheel on a shaft in my vice and there's no evidence of wear. Think I'll leave them alone and go on to the next thing.
 
The originals on mine are not sealed, so my first reaction when whipping the wheel out to put a fresh tyre on, the old one is date marked 1996, was to replace the bearings with new sealed ones. They’re plenty cheap enough. When I was riding my Busas hard we’d be changing the bearings every 10k Miles.
 
rvich said:
Just FWIW, the manual says to repack the bearings every 12,000 miles. If the grease is 45 years old, I would think it might be a good idea.
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Can I repack them without removing them? I have the peg spanner.
 
You could, but modern bearings are now fully sealed and cost pennies and take only minutes to fit without a need for special tools.
 
Removing the bearings usually means beating on the inner races, doing so usually brinells the the races which will provide a solution to your question when you end up replacing the bearings.

I am a fan of cleaning as much of the old grease out as you can without removing them, then repack with Ford moly wheel bearing grease, or equivalent.

A heat gun should help with the cleaning, follow with an appropriate solvent, blow out the crap, avoid the urge to spin the bearings with the compressed air it is fun and makes a turbine start-up like sound, but hurts the bearings, I've done it, paid the price for what ends up being not inexpensive entertainment. If you do end up removing the bearings, mount one securely, dawn heavy duty face and body protection and go nuts.

Best.
 
Easy to knock them out soak them in kero and give them a good clean to get all the old grease out of them then once clean turn them by hand to feel for any roughness and if things are smooth repack then with a good quality wheel bearing grease, do this every 40k miles and everything will be ok, but if riding in wet and dusty conditions then do them every 20k miles, wheel bearings will last a very long time if you look after them, you can even repack sealed bearings just by removing the seals, clean, repack and put the seals back in, no need to be heavy handed when tapping the bearings out of the hubs.

Ashley
 
maylar said:
My 74 850 has about 40,000 miles and the rear hub has never been apart. Always garaged, never exposed to the elements (other than whilst riding it). The wheel spins freely with no noises. Is there any reason to change the bearings "just because" ? How long do they last?
Click to expand...
I am putting the finishing touches on a 1966 Triumph T100. It sat outside for maybe 30 years and has an estimated 18,000 miles on it. There was very little on it that was not rusted solid or that didn't have to be replaced except for the wheel bearings. I replaced them anyway because it was in the plan and I had the parts but both front and rear wheel bearings were in good nick. Amazing.
 
Beat the bearings in using the axle says the 'factory workshop manual, classic.
#
Pull the single row bearing in until seated then pull the double row bearing in (off the single row) until it seats on the inner spacer.
The 4203 double row bearing has a gap under it due to the extra depth of the bearing bore.

The rear wheel hub is little different besides two single row bearings.

The solid discs using threaded rod mean no distress to the bearings.

B.jpg


The average Commando might get the wheel bearing changed once in its life time. (with sealed bearings for fit and forget unless beaten in with a rock)
 
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