Wheel bearing installed backwards. ok to reinstall correctly?

As the title says
I removed them wiith an impact driver. Can I reinstall them correctly, or do I NEED to buy another set?

 

My bike does not have ABS!

 

What do you mean, "backwards"? Well, if you've already removed them, I guess it doesn't matter!

Generally speaking, if you have removed a set of bearings by hammering on the inner race at all, no, you should not re-install them, because that impact has likely damaged the bearings permanently. Maybe not, but you won't know if/until/when they fail on the road somewhere. Wheel bearings are also fairly cheap, so I know what I'd do...

Ciao,

JZH

 

Must always re-install brand-new bearings. It's impossible to remove bearings without causing permanent damage. Due to path of forces required to remove:

- force applied to inner-race of bearing, doesn't matter what tool.
- inner-race pushes on bearing balls.
- bearing balls then push outer race and drives bearing off seat.

Important to move tool to opposing sections of bearing to pound off evenly. I've seen hubs that's been hogged-out by aggressive bearing removal/installation where new bearings just drop in and fit is so sloppy, they fall out on their own. Results in wheel wobble that never goes away.



This process causes microscopic dimples on inner & outer races due to extremely high-pressure exerted by balls due to their tiny contact surface area. Balls get slightly ovalised. On higher-load applications such as autos, dual-row bearings are used to handle additional loads.



Here's what happens when you reuse pounded-out bearing in less than 1000-miles. Note spacing of damage is exactly same as spacing of bearings that pressed out race.



Re-installing bearings require pushing ONLY on outer race to not damage bearing balls and matching location on races. I just did wheel-bearings on my CBR1K recently and I can't believe manual says to use large socket that touches only outer-race of bearing and POUND THEM IN WITH HAMMER!!!

Nah, I prefer to use bearing-press cups and long bolt to gently squeeze them into hub. Keeps them perfectly aligned 90-degrees to axle as they go in to not damage seat. Didn't take photos, here's wheel-bearing I did on my wife's car. I even disassemble bearing to make sure there's ZERO chance bearing-balls would get squeezed into races and cause damage.