Wheel bearings

Anybody have any experience replacing the front wheel bearings?? Is this hard or are there any tricks? I've got to replace mine beacuse I've noticed I've got some play in my front wheel, which seems like the bearings to me

 

Get the book ... Use the right drift ... knock 'em out. Forget going to YAMAHA for new ones!

Just take the old ones to a bearing supply place ... hand them to the guy at the window ... he'll look at the size engraved on the side ... go get you some new ones ... you hand him a 20-dollar bill ... he gives you 9-dollars change ... you leave with sealed bearings rated for higher rpm than is possible on the bike ... exceeding OEM standard ... you feel good.

Go home and put the bearings in where you knocked the old ones out.
Tap them in with a drift and DONT LET THE DRIFT SLIDE OFF INTO THE BEARING. You work your way around the race until it seats with a dull-thud instead of the high frequency of not being fully seated.

Who da man?
You da MAN

 

thanks rick easy enough! anybody know the bearing number off hand??

 

You will need 2. # is 6302RS or 6302S or 6302Z. The last letters designate the seal. RS is a double rubber seal, S is a single rubber seal and Z is a metal seal.

 

JC Whitney has the lowest prices for bearings. Remember, they only cost one dollar each from the factory. The metal seal isn't really a seal so get the double rubber sealed ones to keep water out.

 

Steve is dead on about the metal seal. I used the RS also.

 

thanks guys got the bearings, replaced them and got her back on the road!

 

I love a happy ending! So does Gene Simmons know you are using his old guitar players name?

 

how do I get the old ones out??

I can't tap them through from one side can I? I have the wheel stripped down so that the next step is removing the bearings...but they won't come out!

 

You need to use a well-dressed drift ... or, sacrifice an old, round, screwdriver.

Grind a clean, sharp, working-edge to catch the tiny bit of the bearing exposed.

They come out.

 

You have to drive the bearinhs out from the opposite side. Just slide the punch or screwdriver through the hole for the axle shast at a angle. You should feel the punch hit the bearing. Then drive them out. Its easier than it sounds.

 

yeah, I figured it out. I am a total dumbass...I was hitting from the outside of the wheel expecting the assembly to push out the bearing on the other side, the inner shaft, and the bearing I was hitting on. So dumb. So I'll hit from the opposite side tomorrow night. No time today.

Sorry for the stupid question.

 

Not stupid, ignorant. Ignorance is easily cured with knowledge, stupidity is not.

 

You do knock-out the bearings from the opposite side of the wheel.

But, be sure the Drift is on the Bearing Race and NOT on the Bearing SEAT.

There might not be too much of the Race exposed to get a Drift on. Make a TOOL with a nicely squared-off end ... that will give the Race full impact rather than being rounded-off and slipping-off the edge.

 

I rebuilt my forks this past weekend and wanted to clean & repack the bearings as well. Unfortunately, as RickCo's last post warns, I struck the metal shield and also dented the cage. So one bearing was toast.

Found a pair of 6302RS's locally for $7.50 a pop. Not bad! So I'm going to pick those up at lunch today.

Getting to the point: I have a cousin who works for a large industrial-supply company, and has taken sales engineering classes with Timken, SKF, and Federal Mogul to name a few. He STRONGLY recommended pressing the bearings in rather than hammering, even with a seating tool. Apparently, every blow of the hammer causes the balls to dent the races, putting microscopic spalls into the races before you've even used the bearing. This accelerates wear and leads to premature failure. Another note from my dad (40 years of shadetree mechanic experience) is that hammering bearings in that have rubber seals, you can knock the rubber seal right out of the bearing. Not good when it's on the back side of the bearing and you're not aware that it fell off since you can't see it.

Good things to consider! I invested in $5 worth of threaded rod, nuts, and washers to form a makeshift bearing press. We'll see how it works...

 

I use a vice to press them in.

 

Should work fine. I work on Brunswick pinsetters; there are two bronze bearings on the machine that are pressed in; this is the exact method we use to replace them, using the new bearing to press the old one out.

 

With a press being that easy to make for this application, why not, right?