Repacking a cone and spilling loose bearings!
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Repacking a cone and spilling loose bearings!
I've got an old junker I use as my around town bike, it's a schwinn hardtail mtb. As much as I love it, it was never a super stable bike but at a certain point it's wobble was too much to take. Looking closer as I was getting to remove the freewheel a section of the axle fell out along with many bearings. I had apparently been riding on a broken axle for a while :/
I picked up some replacement bearings and found another axle and did an ok job cleaning the old gunk out. I packed it with grease and pushed in the new bearings but had a hell of a time sliding the axle in without knocking the bearings out of position (like into the hollow center section of the hib!)
My question to you is - what's the beat way to repack a cone/loose bearing style hub? What's the secret? In hindsight it seems like I might have put the axle in first, then th grease, bearings then the cones. Still not sure if it would work this way though.
skandl
I picked up some replacement bearings and found another axle and did an ok job cleaning the old gunk out. I packed it with grease and pushed in the new bearings but had a hell of a time sliding the axle in without knocking the bearings out of position (like into the hollow center section of the hib!)
My question to you is - what's the beat way to repack a cone/loose bearing style hub? What's the secret? In hindsight it seems like I might have put the axle in first, then th grease, bearings then the cones. Still not sure if it would work this way though.
skandl
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I know it sounds like this takes three hands, but take it slow and glue everything together with grease and it works fine.
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more grease....per Sheldon Brown....."Then line both cups in the hub shell with grease. Don't worry about using too much. It is not possible. If in doubt, use more."
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And use an old cookie sheet as a work surface should something unplanned happen.
Brad
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To help clarify one point about Jeff's post above, once you've got the bearings in one side, put the axle and cone in to hold the bearings in place, and then turn the wheel over. The axle sticking out the other side will then prevent the bearings from falling into the axle shaft of the hub.
Also, remove the cone, nuts and washers from only one side. Sometimes, the way things are tightened down, a cone and nut might come loose on the opposite side of the loosened locknut. It's a lot harder to do anything w/ cones and nuts loose on both sides of the hub.
Also, remove the cone, nuts and washers from only one side. Sometimes, the way things are tightened down, a cone and nut might come loose on the opposite side of the loosened locknut. It's a lot harder to do anything w/ cones and nuts loose on both sides of the hub.
#7
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Using a cone wrench will avoid both cones and locknuts coming loose at the same time even by accident. And you need a cone wrench for later on when you adjust the preload so if you don't have them go and buy them.
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Don't put the bearings back in until you have inserted the axle partially through the hub wheel.
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To help clarify one point about Jeff's post above, once you've got the bearings in one side, put the axle and cone in to hold the bearings in place, and then turn the wheel over. The axle sticking out the other side will then prevent the bearings from falling into the axle shaft of the hub.
Also, remove the cone, nuts and washers from only one side. Sometimes, the way things are tightened down, a cone and nut might come loose on the opposite side of the loosened locknut. It's a lot harder to do anything w/ cones and nuts loose on both sides of the hub.
Also, remove the cone, nuts and washers from only one side. Sometimes, the way things are tightened down, a cone and nut might come loose on the opposite side of the loosened locknut. It's a lot harder to do anything w/ cones and nuts loose on both sides of the hub.
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+1 I do this. Only loosen one side cone/lock nut. After cleaning everything, put grease in both sides (cups). Insert axle about halfway, and put bearings in the side where the cone/lock nut are on the axle. After installing the correct number of balls, push axle in all the way, to hold balls in place. Turn wheel so that the axle without cone/lock nut are up, and install the correct number of balls in that side. Install cone/lock nut on that side. Adjust cones (using 'three wrench method'), then tighten lock nut. Done!
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Cool, thanks for the advice. Another question - how tight should the cones be against the bearings? Too tight seems like a no-no, so leaving a bit of room for the bearings to roll around OK?
#12
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You make it sound too loose. When you turn the axle in your fingers you shouldn't feel any binding; by the same token you shouldn't be able to jiggle the axle at all. If you have q/r wheels, bear in mind that clamping the skewer can actually tighten the cones a tiny bit.
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Another way to check: if there's free play in the bearing (again, wiggle the rim side-to-side), spin the wheel a bit. When it comes to a stop, it should stop. A too-tight adjustment will show up by a subtle reverse rotation before stopping. If you see this (it doesn't always happen), loosen the adjustment a smidge.
Some poor-quality hubs can't be set perfectly. I try to find a happy medium- a little play is usually better than too tight.
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Use heavier/sticker grease. A lot of new lubricants out there are being sold as "grease" in bike shops but are sometimes too thin, viscosity-wise, to hold loose bearings in place in cups durng installation. I always used Phil Wood "Waterproof Grease" to repack bearings and I never had problems holding the loose bearings in place in the cups as long as I put enough on it and the bearings.
Chombi
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#15
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The final test I do is to place the wheel into the frame and barely tighten the skewer just enough to hold it in the dropouts. Moving the rim sideways between the brake-pads shows some play in the bearings. Then after I fully tighten the skewer, the play disappears when check at the rim between the pads.
BTW - I like boat-trailer bearing-grease in my hubs. The blue tacky stuff has great adhesion and doesn't get pushed aside as easily as other greases when the bearing rolls around the race.