Originally Posted by
VaBeachTennis
It was weird because it would go for a mile and quite smoothly and then some of the bearings got loose and would make that sound, then I would maybe hit a lucky bump and the sound would go away again and everything was smooth. The bearing cage was pretty out of sorts and three bearings dropped out of them, they also looked like they were a different bearing set and size than the one on the sprocket side.
The races seemed pretty smooth to me, inside the hub looks spotless after I cleaned it. The races are going to be cleaned after dinner but the initial inspection looked good to me. I think that the shavings came from both but mainly from the balls because all I saw was this bright type of shaving as well as the fact that the balls were smaller than the other side and feel right out of the retainer.
Thankfully no! I used that diagram to re-assemble and for the part information as well as a boat load of videos. LOL.
The left and right hub bearings are 9 x 7/32, but as you can see, the driver retainer holds fewer balls and they are 1/4 inch.
Just something to consider on the next rebuild. Or this one.
It's totally over-the-top anal OCD but I dig doing it. I replace the retainer bearings with individual loose balls. This way you can fit more balls in there which allows better weight distribution and decreased load on the individual balls, races and cones. That's always a good thing for reducing wear. The hub spins better and the balls don't experience any friction casued by contact with the retainer. The grease self-distributes better without the retainers too. And the big bonus is, for some unknown reason, the hub will hold your adjustment way better for much longer. The difference is notceable. It's like you are converting it to a Dura-Ace coaster brake.
Grade 25 loose balls are cheap at your local bike shop too.