Front wheel bearing failure

[dbvolfan]

Last month I had a bearing go out on a trailer. It siezed and wore a hole in the tire.
Good thing you got off the bike - a siezed front tire on a bike is much worse.

Ditto...except I had 3k lbs of gravel in the trailer and when it crashed from the blown tire it bent the entire axle. It looks like it will take the GDP of a 3rd world country to possibly fix now.

 

[El Toro]

The bearing were likely damaged during removal. I'm surprised they lasted as long as they did. With the right pullers and if you were extremely careful, you might be able to remove wheel bearings intact and reuse them, but nobody does this - when they're driven out, they're replaced.

I agree that it is just about 100% likely that they were damaged during removal.

BEARINGS ARE CHEAP. NO ONE PUTS USED BEARINGS BACK IN. ITS ONE OF THE GREATEST OF FALSE ECONOMIES.

Don't reuse seals either. Another false economy, unless you love taking stuff apart to correct things.

Also, NEVER spin bearings with compressed air. A bearing that has been blown to "test" it, is a throwaway item.

 

[HartClimbs]

Ok....fess up.

Did anyone else have to look up the definition of "Brinelled"?

I did. Now I'm smarter. Thanks guys - I learn something new every day!

 

[El Toro]

Two years ago we hit a rock and bent both rims. Thus, bearings were extracted prior to straightening.

At the risk of adding more bad news ....

All of the manufacturers I know of specifically say NOT to straighten wheels once they're bent.

This is not another conspiracy to force you to buy a new wheel. Its a legitimate safety issue.

Wheels are subjected to cyclic loading. If you load them to the point of plastic deformation (permanent bending), then you've taken them into the domain of possible crack initiation, perhaps below the surface depending on the metallurgy and the quality of the casting. When you straighten the wheel, you apply a load in the plastic range a second time, giving you another chance to introduce a micro crack.

Micro cracks can become initiation points for fatigue failure. Fatigue is insidious in that it does not show up until many cycles of loading have passed. Normal small loads that may be within the intended operating range of the component can cause the crack to progress, and eventually the component can fail catastrophically.

The surface fatigue failure that was cited above for the bearing is the same basic idea. The little indentation in the surface caused by an impact during removal or installation doesn't seem to cause any problem until many cycles have passed, but it can lead to total catastrophic failure of the bearing.

There are a lot of folks out there who will straighten wheels for you. They can do this because most folks never put enough miles on a motorcycle to see fatigue issues, and if they do, they don't necessarily make the connection back to the originating event. There is a big incentive to straighten wheels .... because wheels are so expensive. But since wheels are a major safety component, I would strongly recommend that bent wheels NOT be re-used.

 

[TWILKIN650]

Big Sky, I had a front wheel bearing fail on my '05 after about 4500 miles with similar symptoms. First a little grinding, then a pulsating and louder grinding over about a 50 mile time period. Took it to the local dealer who sold it to me. They were skeptical until the shop manager took it for a short ride. No question, replaced under warranty. Wheel had never been off the bike prior to the bearing being replaced. Glad I wasn't in the middle of nowhere!

 

[NSFJR]

In 2005 I was rearended on my 2004 FJR, with the front wheel being driven into (and almost under) the rear bumper of a late model Chev 4X4 which was stopped in front of me at the light. After a lot of insurance ****, I refused to sign off on the repairs until I had a radial and axial run-out check done on the front wheel, based on my assessment of the force placed on the rim by the impact. This was eventually done at the end of the 2005 riding season in my province (late October), with me delivering the damaged wheel, and picking up the new wheel/tire using my car, in late November. When I brought the FJR out of hibernation in 2006, in less than 200 kms of riding, an ominous click developed in the front wheel. I slowly limped home, and removed the wheel. Once off, simply placing my finger inside the wheel and turning the bearings confirmed one was screwed. Turns out some minimum wage wonder installed the new bearings in the new wheel, and damaged one in the process. I was extremely pissed; the dealer was most apologetic, and went out of his way to replace both bearings with new ones. I have biked for over fifty years, all types of bikes, and that was the first wheel bearing failure I had ever encountered.

 

[flash12]

Did 1,000 miles last weekend in remote Idaho, then was doing 300 on business yesterday. Returning home, I believe the front wheel bearings failed. Have yet to pull the wheel but it was binding and grinding and getting worse fast. Left me stranded 25 miles from home toward dusk. By the time I got to my house, got my truck and trailer and returned (thank God the bike was where I left it at a very remote, rural I-15 interchange), it was dark and pouring rain with big lightning flashing.
Two years ago we hit a rock and bent both rims. Thus, bearings were extracted prior to straightening. The dealer recommended new replacements, stating sometimes during the extraction process, the force applied can damage bearings. I looked at them and they appeared fine to me (and I was a little skeptical, too) so I had him put the factory originals back in. That was about 10,000 miles ago, and now this apparent failure.

I suppose, in hindsight, I should have listened to the dealer (how come we seem to inevitably have a distrustful relationship with dealers? Duh!).

Has anyone else had experience with wheel bearing failures on an FJR?

I abandoned the bike (temporarily, of course) at the Interstate interchange because I feared a total and catastrophic failure could result in a seized (stopped and skidding) front wheel with me and machine on the ground. Is that a very likely outcome? I didn't want to find out.

P.S. There were very subtle early warnings of trouble coming - sort of an almost imperceptible rowwww-rowwww-rowwww with every wheel revolution - but I attributed it to a tire that was getting marginal and cupping. When will I learn to listen to what the bike is telling me, or to at least better interpret and understand what it is saying?

Big Sky

When I tried to balance a new tire on the front (8000 miles), the bearings would not turn freely. I think yamaha has a problem with either the front wheel machining or the length of the spacer. I just pushed one bearing out slightly and the bearings were very free. I think they were loaded axially either because the spacer was too short or the cobore for the bearings were not deep enough. When I retorqued the axle the bearings got very tight again. This, I believe would lead to premature failure. Ball bearings are not ment to take high axial loads. With the calipers off, try spinning the front wheel with the axle torqued. If there is considerable drag, then I believe you will have eventual failure.

flash12