Wheel bearing need replacing…

[Paul FaheyMember]

Hi
This weekend one of my boys got pulled up at scrutineering for a bad wheel bearing that I didnt notice. So here goes – its time for subject 101 Intro to Changing Wheel Bearings.

As i new this day was coming i have invested in a bearing puller and i am ready to roll, but before i start i thought that i would check in with the tutors at OBTR’s. Note i am a desk jockey so keep the instructions basic!

So my questions before i start are

1 do i need to replace the dust cover? I mean the rubber cover you can see where the axel passes through the hub.
2 how do you get the rubber cover out with out wrecking it?
3 how do you put the rubber seal back when the bearing has been replaced?

I have googled bearing replacement and found some good youtube but the ones i found ignore the basic issues of getting the rubber cover off.

If you can help, thanks. I will take some photos of the project and post for others.

If it helps the bike is a 07 Rm 125.

Unit.

[GregMember]

Unit wrote:

So my questions before i start are

1 do i need to replace the dust cover? I mean the rubber cover you can see where the axel passes through the hub.

Yes you should because you can’t reall get them out without damaging the sealing capabilities of the seal. Then dirt and crud will shorten the life of the new bearings

2 how do you get the rubber cover out with out wrecking it?

You really can’t, sometimes you can flick them out with a flat screw driver but it does damage them

3 how do you put the rubber seal back when the bearing has been replaced?

Use a Socket that has the same out side diameter as the seal, the outer edge is where the strength of the seal is so thats where you need to hit it in. Sometimes you can just hit around the outer edge with a flat end drift or a hammer on the outer edge but a socket is best.

Its also worth checking the wheel spacers that the seals run on

[Nick JacksonMember]

Hi Unit
I just replaced the front wheel bearing in my DRZ and it was easier than I thought. I didn’t have a puller so I used a flat punch and it was still not a hard job.
I replaced the bearing seals so I just popped then out with a screw driver then tapped the new one in with a rubber hammer.
Their is probably an Obt that will know it you can reuse the seal but I thought best to go all new gear

Nick

[Nick JacksonMember]

Their you go unit TB beat me to it

[murph the surfMember]

Be aware that most bikes have circlips holding at least one of the bearings in. None on the front of the Kato’s but the rear has a circlip on the RH side from memory.
Cheers
Murph

[DeanMember]

call me pedantic but I also replace the grease in the new bearings with a known quality grease to get much better bearing life.

Ollie

[GregMember]

Ollie wrote:

call me pedantic but I also replace the grease in the new bearings with a known quality grease to get much better bearing life.

Ollie

I don’t know if it’s pedantic Ollie, I have tried both repacking and just fitting them and seen no life difference either way. I was also told if you have to pick the seal out to pack it and then refit the seals you have damaged the integrity of the seal

All food for thought

TB

[DeanMember]

Fair enough, but the grease the factory use looks like Vaso , I replace it with a good waterproof outboard bearing grease. I also use a very fine scribe to gently lift the seals,blow out the grease with compressed air, repack with grease then carefully push the seal back in place. I also smear some grease on the underside of the dust seals when I put em back in.

Unit you should always replace your dust seals as well as the bearings as they are only about $3 ea. As TB said check the condition of your spacers as well, you can now get stainless steel aftermarket ones which dont tend to groove out as easily.

Ollie

[RoyMember]

Trailboss wrote:

I was also told if you have to pick the seal out to pack it and then refit the seals you have damaged the integrity of the seal

I have always wondered about that too. Even if you are very carefull you can still tell it has been removed. I think next time I do mine I will just put them in as purchased. Less mucking around at the time and my limited experience says ktm’s don’t like their rear wheel bearings anyway.

And like Murph said do check for circlips. Makes you feel like a tool when your cursing and wondering why the bearing won’t move only to find a clip. Of course I have only been told this, it would never happen to me.

[Paul FaheyMember]

Thanks heaps for all the experienced passed over.

I have just come up from the garage having removed the bearings.

Yes, the dust seals came off really easy. My son just used a flat blade screwdriver. I note that what looks like a spring on the inside of the cover is broken and pretty well stuffed so i will take your advice and throw on two new seals with the bearings.

Earlier today my son pulled the rear wheel off and removed the dust seals. He then tried his hand with the bearing puller but couldnt get grip to remove the bearing. A phone call to dad – i cant get them out? Dad thinks, bloody bearing puller, waste of time and money!

Dad arrives into the garage at about 9.00pm and thought that i had better see if i can get this to work or its off to the mechanic, tail between the legs. I have a go, placing the chain wheel side down. I insert the bearing puller collet and set it up, after a couple of hits the bearing makes its way out of the hub. Hey it works, how proud am i, give the young bloke a bit of crap. I remove the centre spacer and flip the wheel over insert a digit into the axle space to see how deep to put the puller piece and think hell how deep is that? The issue, the chain wheel side has two bearings. Inserted the the puller piece below the second bearing and extracted both bearings really easy. Thanks to my best friend and worth ever cent – the great bearing puller!

The issue my son had was that he started on the chainwheel side and tried to get the puller piece to grip between the two bearing. He couldnt get the piece to grab.

Off to get some bearings tomorrow, three not two as i expected! I will also grab the dust covers. Interesting argument on repacking the bearings with better quality grease. I was going to try it so your comments are helpful.

I have taken a few photos with the iphone and if quality is adequate i will post later.

Thanks again.
Unit

[Paul FaheyMember]

Went to the bearing supplier today. Three new bearings and two new seals. Thanks for the heads up on the dust seals. Asked the bearing shop guy about repacking the bearing and he suggusted that it would affect the integrity of the seal. So i didnt repack the bearing following on also from the recommendation of some here on obtr’s.

Bike back together and all appears good.

Thank you.
Unit

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