Wheel Bearing Puller?

[airheadpilot]

All,

My front wheel bearings are shot at 39,000 miles. I pulled the front wheel over the weekend to have a new tire mounted and checked the wheel bearings with my highly scientific finger-test as I always do. Notchy and gritty - not good. I rode through snow country in January over some pretty salted roads. I hosed the bike off good when I got back, but I think some of the salt made it past the seals and got into the bearings. Oh well.

Try as I might I can't find a bearing puller that will work on these bearings. All of the standard internal bearing pullers can't get enough purchase on the inner race between it and the center preload cylinder. I suppose I could take it to my local dealer and let the monkeys there deal with it, but it seems like such a simple job if I can just get the old ones out. Has anyone found a bearing puller that if good for removing these?

Thanks!

Andrew

2005 FJR1300A

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

Airheadpilot: when you do find the tool (drift) that'll work to drive out the old bearings keep this in mind -- many a m/c wheel has been ruined by 'broaching' the hub in the area where the bearing resides. Mostly by the new bearing going in but sometimes when taking the old ones out. Heat is your friend here -- warming the hub sufficiently to afford easy egress of the old bearings. Install the new one by pressure on the outer race only....you probably knew that.

The operating term here is "interference fit" and can be elusive, more or less, and a problem if not dealt with properly.

Good Luck....

 

[radman]

Airheadpilot: when you do find the tool (drift) that'll work to drive out the old bearings keep this in mind -- many a m/c wheel has been ruined by 'broaching' the hub in the area where the bearing resides. Mostly by the new bearing going in but sometimes when taking the old ones out. Heat is your friend here -- warming the hub sufficiently to afford easy egress of the old bearings. Install the new one by pressure on the outer race only....you probably knew that. The operating term here is "interference fit" and can be elusive, more or less, and a problem if not dealt with properly.

Good Luck....

+1 Heat the hub, freeze the new bearing for at least an hour.

 

[beardo]

Airheadpilot: when you do find the tool (drift) that'll work to drive out the old bearings keep this in mind -- many a m/c wheel has been ruined by 'broaching' the hub in the area where the bearing resides. Mostly by the new bearing going in but sometimes when taking the old ones out. Heat is your friend here -- warming the hub sufficiently to afford easy egress of the old bearings. Install the new one by pressure on the outer race only....you probably knew that. The operating term here is "interference fit" and can be elusive, more or less, and a problem if not dealt with properly.

Good Luck....

+1 Heat the hub, freeze the new bearing for at least an hour.

Radman,

How much heat/what temperature would you recommend be applied to the hub... and what did you use to apply the heat... heat gun, torch, etc.???

Thanks,

BeardO

 

[docchuck]

All,
My front wheel bearings are shot at 39,000 miles. I pulled the front wheel over the weekend to have a new tire mounted and checked the wheel bearings with my highly scientific finger-test as I always do. Notchy and gritty - not good. I rode through snow country in January over some pretty salted roads. I hosed the bike off good when I got back, but I think some of the salt made it past the seals and got into the bearings. Oh well.

Try as I might I can't find a bearing puller that will work on these bearings. All of the standard internal bearing pullers can't get enough purchase on the inner race between it and the center preload cylinder. I suppose I could take it to my local dealer and let the monkeys there deal with it, but it seems like such a simple job if I can just get the old ones out. Has anyone found a bearing puller that if good for removing these?

Thanks!

Andrew

2005 FJR1300A

My '06 front wheel bearing trashed at 146 miles, no grease! At 3,046 miles, it crapped out again. It had grease! Both times on the left side...strange.

Both bearings, seals, internal spacer, axle & both external spacers were replaced both times. Yamaha said if it happens again, they will replace the complete wheel assembly.

DocChuck

 

[tex]

All,
My front wheel bearings are shot at 39,000 miles. I pulled the front wheel over the weekend to have a new tire mounted and checked the wheel bearings with my highly scientific finger-test as I always do. Notchy and gritty - not good. I rode through snow country in January over some pretty salted roads. I hosed the bike off good when I got back, but I think some of the salt made it past the seals and got into the bearings. Oh well.

Try as I might I can't find a bearing puller that will work on these bearings. All of the standard internal bearing pullers can't get enough purchase on the inner race between it and the center preload cylinder. I suppose I could take it to my local dealer and let the monkeys there deal with it, but it seems like such a simple job if I can just get the old ones out. Has anyone found a bearing puller that if good for removing these?

Thanks!

Andrew

2005 FJR1300A

My '06 front wheel bearing trashed at 146 miles, no grease! At 3,046 miles, it crapped out again. It had grease! Both times on the left side...strange.

Both bearings, seals, internal spacer, axle & both external spacers were replaced both times. Yamaha said if it happens again, they will replace the complete wheel assembly.

DocChuck

 

[radman]

Radman,How much heat/what temperature would you recommend be applied to the hub... and what did you use to apply the heat... heat gun, torch, etc.???

Thanks,

BeardO

Commercial style heat gun-the wheel is painted, a torch, or even getting carried away with a heat gun, will blister the paint. The trick is to quickly and evenly heat the wheel hub, and work the bearing out before the heat has a chance to affect the bearing, this during removal. To ones advantage is aluminums rapid absorption of heat as opposed to the steel bearing outer race. Working against you is steels slower rate of cooling-once heated, the bearing race will take a while to cool down if the initial removal fails. A spray bottle of water is a big help here. Also a help is a Dremel tool-the first bearing is the toughest, as it is next to impossible to get at with the other bearing and the spacer in the way. A Dremel, with the cut-off wheel can be used to at least partially if not completely cut the bearing race so as to ease its removal. The soft aluminum of the wheel makes this a somewhat difficult task, but if careful it works nicely. The race material is quite brittle-often if enough of a cut is made, from the inside out, the race will just split with a loud SNAP and you can damn near pull it out by hand. I've done this after busting out the center of the bearing, exposing the outer race to the cut-off wheel. Slow and steady wins this....race. Get it? Race? Haw, I kills me.......

 

[tex]

you might use an auto body repair tool. You can get these at Northern Tools or you could make one. What I have is a sliding hammer that is attachet to a small "L" or hook. Stick the hook in the bearing hole and use the sliding hammer to knock it out. There is also the old reliable last resort and I do mean last - the cutting torch. This is sop for bearings in blind holes/hubs. It would be best to use a scarfing tip that actually turns the flame to keep you from burning through the housing. I don't think this will be necessary but it will work if needed. Also, are you sure you can't get a rod through the hub from the other side? As far as the heat, you will still have to have something to tap or hit the bearing as the hub is heated - it's not going to fall out. Temp wise i would say 1000 degrees. You can measure that with a special pencil for that purpose. You will need a cutting torch oxygen/acetelylene set up. Might get it done with a propane bottle.

 

[beeroux]

Hay-Zues Christo.

Put your heat away. Get hip.

I just pulled all my wheel bearings with a simple slide-hammer puller. With one caveat.

I expanded the drift ( expansion grip ) inside the bearings width, then FROM THE OTHER SIDE placed a 3/4 or 1" pipe and punched the bearing out from the other side.

FYI, the Harbor Freight "bearing puller" is nothing more than a broken tool waiting for an excuse to die a torrid death.

**** Harbor Freight.

Definitely FREEZE the new bearings before replacing.

GZ

 

[airheadpilot]

I ended up taking it to my local Yammie dealer to have them do it, and then got a luck at the bearing puller they used and went and bought one myself. Like a slide hammer-style puller, but with an assortment of four-pin expanding collets (think bit holders in a lathe or a milling machine) that go on the end of the hammer. Insert into the bearing, expand the collet to provide the necessary friction, give it a couple of whacks with the slide, and voila! Called a "blind hole bearing puller."

Andrew

2005 FJRA

 

[radman]

It's not always the case where they will pop out like that. Too often I've started on a little project like that only to find that the bearing/wheel have become one as if they had been cast as a unit. Glad it worked out for ya.

 

[petey]

Temp wise i would say 1000 degrees. You can measure that with a special pencil for that purpose.

:glare: At a 1000 deg.( F) you won't need to measure the temp...you will see it turn to mush. First you'll burn the paint off way before that. I don't know how much heat the paint will tolerate, I wouldn't go more than 350 deg. on the aluminum.

 

[markjenn]

Never replaced wheel bearings on an FJR, but I've done it on several Japanese bikes and was easily able to drive the old bearings out with a hammer and drift. To put new bearings in, heat the hub, freeze the bearing, and then drive the new bearing in using the old bearing as a driver. Never had the slightest issue. Maybe the FJR is different or I got lucky but never had to go through any of the gyrations discussed here.

- Mark