Front wheel bearing install

Chatting with Randy the other day, the subject of powder coating wheels and the necessity to pull the front wheel bearings came up. I just had my wheels done so the bearings were out and I was preparing to install them today so I took a few pictures.

To remove the bearings you simply pry out the dust seals on either side of the wheel and them drive out the bearings using a long punch. When they come out you will notice that there is a long spacer that falls out. This is a critical piece that must be reinstalled!

So here is how they go back in.
Start on either side, it doesn't matter which. Make sure the wheel is flat on the floor or a solid bench, I prefer the floor with a piece of wood on it to prevent damage to the rim. Place the new bearing on the hub as in the picture and start to tap it into the hub. Only tap the outer race not the inner as this could damage the bearing. Once the bearing is flush you will need something to drive it into the hub. It just so happens that I have a socket the is perfectly sized to make contact with the outer race so I used it to tap the bearing in till it seated.





So now that one bearing is in, turn the wheel over. Insert the spacer and make sure it rests on the inner race of the bearing that you just installed a moment ago. Now install the new bearing on this side of the wheel using the same method.



Now insert the axle to ensure that the spacer aligns with the bearings. There is a bit of slop in the spacer so it may take some small adjustments to be perfect.



That's it, the bearings are in. You could also use a hydraulic press to do the job but it really doesn't take that much pressure to install them so keep it simple. You still need to install the new dust seals of course but you can use the same driver that you used to install the bearings and your ready to roll, literally.

 

Just want to add that putting the new bearings in a plastic bag and then throwing them into the freezer for a while will help them go in easier since the metal will shrink a bit. I too use a large socket to drive the new bearings in. I personally found driving the old bearings out using a punch was a real pain in the Arse so I went ahead and invested in a slide hammer type bearing puller kit from Harbor Freight. I've used it now on 3 sets of wheels and found it to be much safer and easier. Probably not worth the $50 investment for most but since I have two bikes and 4 sets of wheels and lots of friends who work on their bikes at my house it seemed logical.




Rollin

 

Great job Gentlemen :thumb:
So which brand of the bearings you guys use?

 

OEM Honda bearings are my choice. They are decent quality and I am pretty certain they are made in Japan which generally has higher quality control standards. I've known lots of people who use All Balls brand bearings since they are cheaper but I've read mixed reviews (more good reviews than bad) and decided not to take a chance on them. The truth of the matter is that majority of bearings are made by just few large companies and then sold to smaller companies who brand them and sell them to the public. The advantage of going with All Balls bearings is that they usually come with the dust seals while you have to purchase the seals separate when buying OEM. Like I said I've known many people who were happy with All Balls brand but most people believe Japanese made or German made bearings are superior to Chinese made bearings like All Balls.


Rollin

 

Koyo brand all the way which is what Honda uses.

 

Thanks rolling, I think I will get the OEM for peace of mind I have heard many horror story on Chinese bearings

 

I've tried All Ball bearings on couple of my vintage 2 stroke bikes and I was very impressed. They cost fraction of the cost and I think are similar in quality..

Jethro, I like the socket idea to tap the bearing in. Thanks again for the detailed instructions along with the pictures. I am thinking about getting my wheels PC'd next year in black color. I will bookmark this thread. Thanks

 

I get OEM for der Honda, I have a slide hammer deal like above with various size expanding collets for pulling blind bearings like in our wheels or other applications. Throwing the bearings in the freezer is good but you have to heat the wheel up with a torch, MAP gas is good, gota be careful not to burn the paint! I have tried a heat gun in the past with medeoka results, still have to have your trust socket/hammer handy.

 

Those bikes don't accumulate street-miles like a tourer or daily commuter, so your bike's allballs have no problem with durability.

 

OEM will work fine, German or American will probably be the best SKF or Timken would be great but more pricey. Even Chinese bearing are built to a minimum standard as long as they are certified and meet ASTMs.

 

A nice write up and photo illustrations, but I have to take exception to your statement that it doesn't matter which side you start with.
It may.
The Honda Service manual for the 3rd/4th gens specifies the side to drive the first bearing in (I forget which side at the moment and my manual is not handy).
The reason as explained to me by a decent wrench is because of that critical spacer you mention. It not only maintains the proper distance between bearings (and keeps undue compression force off of the wheel hub), the first bearing in determines the actual position of the wheel in side-to-side relation to the forks/calipers. For most bikes it won't matter, but if the tolerances were at the extremes of acceptable allowance it could have an impact. Given that, I'd check your bike specific manual before assuming that it doesn't make any difference.

Related to this, when driving the second bearing in, stop when it is seated against the spacer, don't drive hard enough to start shifting the first bearing out. (It won't be driven out, but you could just push it away from contact with the bottom of it's recess).

Other thoughts - OEM or All Balls hasn't made any difference for me, I've had to replace both at 40 to 45k intervals (my 97 VFR is on its 5th set)

For driving in new bearings, I took an old one, removed the inner race and made one cut through the outer race with a Dremel tool. I place this race against the new bearing and tap it in with a mallet. When seated, the race I used as a driver will be in seated in the bearing well a little bit. Without the cut it would be hard to remove, with the cut it can be squeezed to free it very easily.
(A bearing driver would be optimal, but the punch for tapping old ones out works very well for me and I get some satisfaction from coming up with McGyver-ish alternatives.)


+1 on freezing new bearings - they go in much easier.

Cheers,

 

MARKETING geniuses..........who came up with the "Allballs" brand to place upon no-name, cheap substitutes made in China, often to lower standards made billion$$$$$$. Look how often the "brand" name comes up !! Your urban industrial bearing supplier can usually get you the same stuff locally, but don't buy the cheapest cuz that's from China. "Allballs," where exactly is it manufactured, does quality there control match the standard of top-shelf bearing dealers?? Using the cheapest possible wheel bearings seems exta-risky to me. Make up any two-or-three syllable Chinese names -with- hyphens and THAT could be operating as Allballs, but the real manufacturing plant could be anywhere controlled by our dear friends, the Chinese Gubberment, the Party, and the PLA {i do sincerly wish them A HAPPY NEW YEAR IN PEACE AND HARMONY }-- who knows ? Maybe most of their products are throw-away junk, but not their wheel beaings, right, lads ?????????:hss: Government labs should be testing these for durability and quality. Pull some new ones apart and do some hardness testing for example. Steel alloys from China may be suspect, with too many impurities included.

The need for precision-made industrial bearings on a larger industrial scale for WW2 production made the warring nations' governments and industries the best in the business. USA, Germany, Japan, Italy (before it got blasted by the 8th Air Force). Quality control was strict.............. Others followed.

No reason why Turkey, Malasia, China, Thailand, or anywhere you might have seen bearings labeled, couldn't make satisfactory products, but to what standards are they made and who certifies ? :tongue: China was the last country that was still manufacturing steam locomotives, so have they moved up to USA standards already ??


I'm no engineer, and that's my only disclaimer. Accept my apology, anyone who wasted time reading this.**


**=DWP=Drinking While Typing

 

Hmm, I've been doing this for almost fourty years and I've never run into a bearing that wasn't fully seated in the hub. In this particular application (6th gen), when both bearings are fully seated, there is light pressure on the, spacer. You cans still adjust the position of the spacer with the bearings installed. You can also pound all you like on the second bearing outer race and it won't affect the other bearing. If you were driving on the inner race it may be different but that is a no no anyway.

I'm curious and I would love to see the manual that directs the installer to seat one side but not the other. One would think that Honda would design a center spacer that would allow the bearings to be seated and then adjust the center of the wheel with the axle spacers as they do on the 6th gen.

 

Spacer is just slightly longer (a few thousandths") than the bearing spacing so that there is a load forcing contact between bearing inner races and the spacer when the axle is fully tightened.

 

Doesn't take much force to drive the bearing out normally. With the wheel off use a screwdriver to remove the seals and then insert a long punch through the center spacer and drive the opposite bearing out by tapping it on the back side. Once one side is out the spacer will fall out and you will have easy access to drive out the other bearing.

How have you been going at it?

 

I think I have been doing it all wrong. Stay tuned. I just may end up buying a new wheel. I kinda tend to do things like that you know.

 

I was afraid you would say that. I hope you didn't try to drive one bearing all the way through the wheel. That force may have damaged the hub.

 

READ AND UNDERSTAND THE INSTRUCTIONS! Works every time. Got them out without any damage. SImple if you do it right.

 

Thank god I was getting worried!

 

There is a little burr deep inside the hub from the screw driver I used as a punch in the end. But it does not look like that will interfere with anything when I put the new bearings in. There are two ridges in there. On, the inner most, is about 1/8th inch deeper inside the hub than the ridge that the bearings install against. That is where the slight burr is. I have to take the wheels into the shop for removal of the tires so I will have them give me an opinion on it.