Removing rear bearings.

[goatman]

I was replacing the rear brake disc and noticed my rear ball-bearings were very notchy feeling, time to replace. I followed the haynes manual instructions and got the ball bearing assembly out easy enough, but when I tried removing the needle bearing, the cage and indiviual needle bearings were all that came out when beating on the spacer. Is that all there is to
the needle bearing assembly, the fragile cage and needles, or have I left
something behind in the wheel?:confused2:

 

[one2dmax]

The inner race of the needle bearing is a bitch to get out. The inner cage and needles are easy.

Sean

 

[gamorg02]

a blind hammer puller might help? never done it myself..

 

[goatman]

Uh Oh, this sounds like another crappy adventure in bike repair.

 

[one2dmax]

All is not lost. It is just a sucky part to remove - not impossible.

Sean

 

[gamorg02]

whats the best way sean? blind bearing puller? would that even work for the race? or do ya gotta pound it out with a drift or screwdriver or something?

 

[one2dmax]

As I remember (been a couple of months) the easiest way is with a slide hammer puller (some might call this a blind puller). I had to make a couple of my own jaws sometime back for pulling the bearing race in the rear diff and have used it for the same bearing in the wheel (but I don't think it's needed for it).

Sean

 

[satariel666]

That needle bearing is really something. I couldnt remove mine bearing by any tool. Just no luck.

I ended with welding that bitch.

 

[goatman]

Happy ending! I went at it with a punch and 2 lb sledge and got it out in
5 minutes. Not the way it usually goes, but I'm not complaining.

 

[PATMAX]

yeah I was gonna ad that sometimes we forget that the piece we are trying to remove is "sacrificial" so it does not pay to pussyfoot around when trying to remove it. I was gonna suggest notching the outer cage with a dremel tool only to create a notch or ledge to get a decent place to put the punch or drift on. Don't forget heat can sometimes make the difference between a two beer removal and removing tools from the drywall!:bang head:

 

[goatman]

It warmed up enough to go down to the shed and install the new bearings that I ordered, but the ball bearing that mrcycles.com sent me is smaller in diameter than the one my bike uses. Did the rear ball bearing change in size at some time? The part number on the box matches the part number that it should be for a 91 model, but it is not the right part. Maybe I have a 90 model wheel or something like that. Anyhow, my question is does anyone know if the bearing size changed over the years? Or did they
put the wrong bearing in the right box. Thanks.

 

[one2dmax]

They went to a sealed bearing at some point but the inner and outer diam stayed the same on pretty much all the bearings on the bike.

Sean

 

[Heretic]

...Don't forget heat can sometimes make the difference between a two beer removal and removing tools from the drywall!:bang head:

I used a heat gun when I removed that bearing to expand the surrounding area and it came out after about 10 pulls on the blind bearing puller. Highly recommend getting a heat gun if doing such work.