Front Wheel Bearings

Just a quick question about front wheel bearings.

Has anyone heard or dealt with Pivot Works Bearings? They are less than 1/2 OEM Honda bearings at my local dealer.


Another quick question about the front wheel brake disc bolts.

Why does the service manual say to replace the rotor mounting bolts? They look perfectly fine to me & the service guy at the local dealer says they never replace them. My Honda factory service manual says to use new bolts every time.

Thanks

KC-10 FE out...
lane: :usa2:

 

Got nothing on bearings. But the blots are fine. They want you to replace because the is a thread lock on the OE bolts. The new bolts will have an orange spot on them. You don't have to use any but you should. Your local Honda shop should have some Honda brand in an orange package. It is high temp but light to medium hold. One small drop all done.

I use it when pulling calipers for brakes and changing out the tires. All good.

Edit: the orange is probably fine (hondalock 2) I use the red hondalock (not red lock tight different animals) it is marketed as Hondalock 2HT as in Hightemp. Both are medium hold. One is just higher temp. I use the 2HT.

 

It would not be alot of fun...

to lose your brakes while riding.

All bolts are designed to stretch when they are torqued to provide the clamping force necessary to hold stuff like brake rotors and cylinder heads. When you re-torque a used bolt then you stretch it again which necks down the diameter even more which reduces the tension load margin. In life-critical subsystems and components such as used on airplanes and submarines bolts are not re-used.

So there are two reasons why Honda says to replace the bolts.

1. Technical: Used bolts are an uncertain item with respect to tension load capacity due to the previous stretch and resulting diameter neckdown.

2. Legal: To avoid lawsuits related to deaths from brake failure.

A properly designed bolt torqued to spec would not come loose in it's normal operation, but a little dab of thread locker is cheap insurance and safety wire is even better.

 

I was smoking a cigar the other day, and wondered how your knee was doing...

I deliberated on replacing the caliper bolts and did quite a bit of research on "torque to yield" fasteners, mostly because I was concerned that re-using the originals might be an issue. The conclusion I reached was that true single-use fasteners are primarily used in higher torque applications like connecting rods, automotive clutch pressure plates, drive shafts, and sometimes cylinder heads. Bottom line is that I ended up using the originals, and I didn't even bother with blue Locktite.

The reason I skipped the Locktite is I thought about the calipers on my SV650, which I've had on and off about a dozen times to tune the suspension, and they have never been problematic. I checked the VFR bolts before I sold it, and they didn't move by the time the torque wrench clicked.

 

I have done the same for as long as I can remember. I use a fine dental pick to get the bulk of the old loctite off the threads, then apply a bit of acetone or lacquer thinner and finish the bolts off with a fine brass brush so the threads are pristine before going back in - same for the brake caliper bolts. I also clean up the female threads. I do use a drop of blue loctite though on reassembly. Never a problem.

 

Half-priced bearings are almost certainly Chinese garbage and will last half as long as the OEM.

I wouldn't cheap out on something as vital as wheel bearings.

 

Just buy your bearings from one of the major brand bearing manufacturers.


Timkin
United Tecknologies Etc.,.
Just go to any bearing supply and ask for a grade 5 bearing or better.

Even Honda buys its bearings from a bearing supplier.

$250,000 dollar cars have grade 10 bearings.