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Wheel bearing blues

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Andy Blackley

Andy Blackley

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Last year I replaced the front wheel bearings and adjusted them one time. This season I have had to readjust them again and now they are still too loose once more.
In "How to Restore.. etc.,etc" Roger Williams says that the bearing races may move, i.e. if they are not an interference fit. Has anyone else had an experience with a grooved stub axle that would allow the inner race to move, or hub that allowed the outer race to spin?
My bearing kit came from a Moss vendor. Is the TRF (Timken) kit much better? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
Andy, I got mine from TRF and only had to adjust them once after installing them. Its been over a year now and they haven't loosened up.
 
Hi Andy,

By any chance, did you replace the inner grease seals too? I ask because that might be the only problem.

Many of the currently available seals I've seen are simply way too thick. When trying to adjust the bearings, the thick seal fools you into believing the adjusting nut is properly tightened, when in fact the bearings are quite loose. You probably know the procedure, tighten the nut while rotating the hub, until you feel drag and no play, then back off a flat or so on the nut. Problem is, with the thick seal you feel drag when the seal gets compressed, but the bearings are still quite loose.

After a few miles, the seal wears or flattens a little from rubbing and the bearings again feel loose. It's possible to ruin the bearings, unless the problem is caught in time and are adjusted. It will keep happening until the seal is worn down to the correct thickness.

The only solution is to trim the felt seal with a single edge razor blade until just slightly more than flush with it's carrier or the edge of the hub. Last set I installed were about twice as thick as original seals, maybe an 1/8" needed to be trimmed off (these were from Moss, I believe, but I've seen the same from other vendors).

If left to run loose, the axle can get scored if the inner race turns on it and the bearings can overheat and tear themselves up. No, I've never seen looseness of the outer race, in the hub. More commonly, the hub is bunged up from someone beating on it to remove an old race.

Hope this helps.
 
I put new front bearings and seals in last summer. I had to tighten them down again after about 1K miles, they had gotten quite loose. I got them from Moss.
 
Alan: Thanks for the input. Maybe I'll pull them off and clean things up, repack the bearings and check the thickness of the seal, and see how it goes.
 
Alan's correct on the felt seals. Purchased these from TRF this winter, and cut them down before installing. Re-adjusted once after that and no problems since.

Rob.
 
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