I am having trouble removing the rear wheel bearings. Is there a special tool or trick to remove them? If you have any thoughts let me know!! Thanks!
Here's a hint:
The bearings don't have to be perfect when they come out.
;)
Well...The thing is...I wanted to reuse them in my new wheel. I am doing all the normal things like using a drift punch and wacking at them but they are not moving at all. My only thought is that the wheel is really cold. I think it was like 15 all day and it was in my garage. I am going to bring teh wheel in the house for a while and warm it up then try again. Second thought I think I am going to get some new wheel bearings anyway but, I would like to see if I can do it without totally trashing them.
Do yourself a favor, spend the $15 and put new bearings in. Trash the ones you are removing.
Heating the wheel with a propane torch helps - the aluminum expands more than the steel bearing - but the bearings are toast already. As soon as you apply a lateral shock load to the inner race, when the outer race is held in the wheel, the bearing is done.
Always get new bearings, unless by some miracle you can apply the removal force to the race that is being held. Never seen a case, but maybe there is.
Take the old bearing to a bearing supply place. They'll be able to match it for about 1/4 the cost of the bike shop.
Actually I was thinking of taking my bearing in to a bearing shop near me. I was concerned that they couldn't match the quality of the bearing though. Or maybe they can get me better bearing that will last tice as long. Any thoughts about the quality of the suzuki bearings vs from a shop?
Mark
OK the drift punch idea is good. What they dont tell you though is that you might have to grind/shape the tip of the drift to exactly catch the bearing. Also once you catch it... dont show any mercy with the hammer. Let her rip. And use a metal hammer, not a mallet. Of it still doesn't work... I have had the bearing shatter on 1 side, and ended up whacking out the other side, then the outer race of the broken one can be removed with 6 of the balls back in with like paper stuffed in between the balls so they dont bunch up, and then whack it out. Its hard I know but if all else fails... that is a last resort.
Cool.
Srinath.
The bearings from the bearing shop are will likely be exactly the same ones the bike shop sells you, and even if they are a different manufacturer, they will be of the same quality.
There are only a few companies world wide that supply all bearings, and I'm not aware of any big quality difference across any of them. In industry, they are all used interchangably.