Folks -

Replacing the front wheel bearings on the 84 GSL-SE...Got new ones and greased them all up. Cleaned out the hub so it is nice and fresh.

When I went to put them in, they only went in part way. All of the manuals do not say to re-seat that outer band around the bearings but it seems to me that the bearings needs to be further inside the rotor (against that inner wall that has the notches you use to bang out the old one).

So...do I just bang it in or do I have to drag it to a machine shop to have them pressed in?

All help is appreciated!

Thanks

 

Well if you bought new bearings and races, turn the old races upside-down on top of the ones that are half-in, and gently tap around the edges with a hammer to evenly seat the new races.

If they don't go in evenly, they'll stick, and not go as far as they should. There is a groove they end up sitting in, which keeps them in place, and getting past this groove is a little tricky.

Just take your time, and you'll get it in there.

Jon

 

awesome advise - worked like a champ!!!

one more question...the outer seal is now flush with the hub...but it appears that the outer bearings can float out of their seat - should the grease seal be pushed down flush with the bearings as well or does it sit higher?

 

NO - don't push the grease seal further past than flush with the backside (inside) of the rotor.

If you look at your spindle, you'll see that there is a 'step' that mounts the inner bearing and the grease seal actually runs against the spindle in a different area. When seating the grease seal, I used a 1x2" 'firring strip' and whacked it lightly with a mallet until the grease seal was flush with the top - using this method, you can't over exert force on any one part, bending the flimsly grease seal and damaging it permanently.

You are correct that the inner bearing can come out of it's race when you're installing it, but you'll want to grease them up REALLY good and the surface tension will hold the bearing in the race until you can get it on the spindle. If it keeps coming out - you're not using enough grease. You are using a 'bearing-packer' right?

When you get to torqueing down the outter race and bearing, install the washer and spindle nut, and grab a 19mm (IIRC) box end. Turn the rotor by hand and it should make about 1 turn smoothly and without any abrupt stops. Tighten the spindle nut w/the 19mm wrench until you get this right. When you spin the rotor by hand, give it a good, strong tug, and it should go 1 turn. Once you have the 19mm set corrrectly, install the castellated nut locker and a NEW cotter pin - don't reuse your old one - this is an important piece! Finally, lightly tap the centercap back into position and spin it to be sure nothing is scraping on the inside of the centercap.

The FSM states that you should have a force scale around and measure 1 lb force, PLUS the pre-load on the gease seal and bearings, but this is harder to determine than my method described above. After installation of my bearings, I had to go back after a week and re-tighten the spindle nuts on both sides because they weren't tight enough. This is worth re-checking after about a week or 400 miles or so to be sure that your bearings are tensioned correctly - incorrect tension will result in wandering steering, brake noise (from the rotor hitting the mount bracket) when turning, poor alignment, and strange tire wear if you don't catch it in time.

Check this by raising that corner, grab tire/wheel at 9-O'clock and 3-O'clock and twisting - should be no movement. Now pull and push, should be no 'clunking'. If either of these tests result in noise and/or motion, you'll need to remove your center caps and retension the spindle nut, castellated nut locker, and cotterpin.

Reply back if questions,

 

Just a thought if you wanna do it by the fsm use a small fishing scale to determine the weight nessecary to rotate the disk.

 

thanks for the fast replys! all worked out well and I will check again in about 400 miles...