Bearing positioning

[stuartb]

Opinions required on the correct way to insert an SKF bearing...

1. Would you insert with the Stamp (on the outer race) facing into the work
Or
2. Facing away from the work.

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[alex]

Definitely face the away and blithely assume that all is ok.

 

[stuartb]

That's how the fitted the last batch... for some reason I had my doubts there..

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[r25sti]

fit so you can read once fitted.

 

[2002sportevo]

+1 with r25sti

 

[stuartb]

All good lads.. thanks

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[Flyingscotsman]

Nice work Stuart. How did you drift it in? I?ve got a set of front wheel bearings to fit to my spare wheels at some point.

 

[stuartb]

Hi Rob, I had purchased impact sockets to suit from Halfords, the bearing on the flip side locates inside the hub roughly 20 mil so I had to get one that fitted just shy of the internal diameter of the hub but snug enough to fit the outer race. Sounds crude, but it works just fine..a proper bearing press is too large and bulky making it uneconomical and impractical. A smear of grease and firm raps with a hammer drifts them in just fine...just making sure its square as you go.

Take the bearing(s) in with you and try different diameters, you'll find one that will suit....impact sockets are best due to their thick walls and ability to transfer the mechanical energy more efficiently plus theres a larger strike area.. 10 quid a socket roughly.. I needed three.

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[Flyingscotsman]

Hi Rob, I had purchased impact sockets to suit from Halfords, the bearing on the flip side locates inside the hub roughly 20 mil so I had to get one that fitted just shy of the internal diameter of the hub but snug enough to fit the outer race. Sounds crude, but it works just fine..a proper bearing press is too large and bulky making it uneconomical and impractical. A smear of grease and firm raps with a hammer drifts them in just fine...just making sure its square as you go.

Take the bearing(s) in with you and try different diameters, you'll find one that will suit....impact sockets are best due to their thick walls and ability to transfer the mechanical energy more efficiently plus theres a larger strike area.. 10 quid a socket roughly.. I needed three.

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Thanks Stuart, the impact sockets are a good idea. I've done it before on car hub bearings using the old bearing as a drift, but size matched impact socket is a great idea.

 

[r25sti]

i put bearings in freezer over night then warm wheel with heat gun and bearings slide in by hand.

 

[MoranC1]

+1 on freezer overnight, makes most bearing jobs handy. But try not to spin it until its defrosted lol

 

[stuartb]

I considered the freezer option last night funnily enough, but as I'd done my other rear a couple of weeks ago and they went in a treat I charged on.... I will definitely do it on the spare front I have which sadly won't be painted anytime soon...

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[stuartb]

Thanks Stuart, the impact sockets are a good idea. I've done it before on car hub bearings using the old bearing as a drift, but size matched impact socket is a great idea.

You'll immediatly feel it more positive... these impact sockets are heavy and they definitely transfer more of the effort, they also move about less when you strike them.

Let us know what you think..

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[Flyingscotsman]

Finally got round to replacing wheel bearings on my spare front wheel today. Got the old ones out with bearing puller and slide hammer.
New ones in freezer overnight and Stuart's impact socket drift trick worked fine to get the new ones in.

However.......with the new set fitted the bearings seem tight and are difficult to turn by hand. They turn ok with the bearing puller and a spanner and are not notchy like the old ones, but they do seem rather tight. The spacer between the bearings is tight too such that bearings turn together.

Anybody else experienced this? Somehow doesn't seem right.

They are standard gen2 / gen3 wheels.

 

[stuartb]

So the inner races turn in unison... as in when you rotate one side the other turns too ?... if so I'm visualising when the wheel is nipped up everything is compressed along the axle, so as long as the outer races are fixed to the rims and rotate as they should along with the rims rotating then all is fine if you think about it.

Your thinking you've drifted them in too far which you can't as the spacer prevents everything from compressing beyond a point.. everything along that axle line stays put including the inner race and spacer.

Doubt very much you've done anything wrong.

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[Flyingscotsman]

Thanks Stuart. I see what you mean about when axle is tightened.
I did have to whack the bearings pretty hard to get them in. Was worried that somehow spacer wasn?t seated right and is pushing inner race making it tight.

Perhaps I?m overthinking but I was expecting the new bearings to turn easily by hand. The old ones did but one was knackered so may not have been tight up against the spacer.

 

[JamieMac]

Hi, back to the original question, it makes no difference but I always put the bearing number on the outside so I can make a note when they next need replacing. Saves paying the usual exorbitant BMW prices.

The main thing to remember about wheel bearings is that you don?t want any side load. The bearings should ?just? sit and stop the inner spacer dropping but no more. If the world was a perfect place the bearing seats would be a ?thou? less than the spacer length, but we?re dealing in mass production and worn tooling so it can be out.

Basically the more side load, the shorter the life of the Bering.

 

[Flyingscotsman]

Cheers Jamie, on the first part I fitted BMW bearings and they are symmetric with no writing stamped on the races.

I guess there has got to be some side load to hold the spacer in place. In my case they seem a bit tight but when I use the bearing puller to grip them they do turn smoothly without any notchiness (unlike the old ones).

I guess I'll give them a try out and see how they go.

 

[stuartb]

They'll only go in as far as the aperture/housing will allow anyway and should reach the bottom of each, so it may very well feel tight but thats normal and the spacer should be held in situ against the inner races enabling you to simply slide the shaft through and not be hunting about for it when putting everything back together. +1 on Jamie's comment.

So all good in my mind.

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[JamieMac]

I'm a bit of a toolaholic. About 25 years ago I just got so fed up with the grief changing bearing especially headstock.

Here's some of my favourite bearing tools I have for removing and installing bearings by park tools.