Is this front hub (with 20mm axle) serviceable?

d3matt

Bike: 2010 Boardman Team FS
Fork: RockShox Reba SL, 120mm travel & 20mm Maxle Lite
Hubs: Sealed bearings, 20mm front axle

There seems to be excessive play in my front hub and the wheel isn't as smooth as it should be. Is this serviceable? I couldn't see where or how anything could come apart.

Here's a video taken on my phone showing the play..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMoBqa2nz-Y

And some pics to help you identify what I have...





I sprayed it with TF2 spray today and you can see traces of brown muck coming out.

Tonyp_iom

Easy, TF2 is crap bin it unless your cleaning grease and oil off, its just as bad as WD40 for lubing.

Anyhow lubing the hub won't do anything as your bearing will be sealed ones. the big bits sticking out will pull out with the retaining washers. once out you should see a bearing in there so get the number off it and buy stainless versions, will prob be like a 6904 or something and press the new bearings in, if you don't have a press then use a socket that is 0.5m shy of the outer bearing diameter to tap the bearings in with a hammer.

d3matt

Tonyp_iom wrote:

the big bits sticking out will pull out with the retaining washers. once out you should see a bearing in there so get the number off it and buy stainless versions

Thanks very much for the reply. That's good news.
How hard is it to pull out the 'tube' sections? Do you need to pull them out with plumbers pliers?
Any recommendations as to where to buy the bearings from? Any better than others? Is it possible to get ceramic versions?

cooldad

Bearings from BETD or any bearing supplier. Ceramic are stupidly expensive, not worth it.

Tonyp_iom

Plumbers pliers should do, but be careful not to scratch the metal and be gentle but persuasive. Don't touch ceramic, too expensive and I have personally noticed a lot of issues with Ceramic stuff, seizing and just lack of durability. Stainless bearings are your best bet and 100% grease fill them for longevity.

d3matt

I've learnt more about the assembly of the front hub from this very helpful thread.

I've tried to get the spacers out, but they wont budge. I'll end up knackering them if I grip them any tighter. Is there a tool for this job? In the middle of the hub axle is a square cut out. You can see it in this photo..

I was wondering if this was there for a pulling tool of some sort?

I was also wondering if the wobbly spacers have nothing to do with worn bearings and aren't anything to worry about. Maybe the spacers have just worn around the retaining washers. There seems to be muck in there and quite possibly the bearing seals have gone too so I would really like to get in there and investigate. Any ideas how to budge these spacers?

I've put a better video on YouTube now of this.

nicklouse

tap them out from the inside then. the collar is just press fit.

d3matt

Thanks for the advice. Using the cutout in the middle of the axle did allow me to knock them out. What I found is that the bearings were mucky, but surprisingly on the inside edges as well.
This is what they looked like on the inside edges (i.e. pointing to the middle of the axle):

I assume most of this muck is grease from the bearing itself. I'm going to prise out the rubber seal and see if I can re-pack the bearing with grease.
What's the best bearing grease (that I can buy at a motor factors)?

One of the bearings is fine and one is rough. I'll re-pack both though (if that works) as they both were very mucky. I'll also order some new ones.
The wobbly spacers are 'normal'. But I do wonder if these are letting too much rubbish through. I might see if I can add an o-ring to the spacer!

Just for reference for anyone finding this thread in the future, the bearings for my 2010 Boardman Team FS are 6804RU.

neninja

You're wasting your time repacking them. If one is rough and there was play then just replace them.

d3matt

neninja wrote:

You're wasting your time repacking them. If one is rough and there was play then just replace them.

Yes, you're probably right, but it keeps my bike operational until the new ones turns up.

d3matt

On the subject of buying bearings... I've purchased some new stainless steel bearings from AK Bearings. If I went for the normal type, they cost £1.20 here, whereas bike supplier websites are selling them at £6 (or £12.99 at CRC :shock: ).

d3matt

New bearings now fitted and the wheels spins lovely. Thanks for the help on this. Fitting the bearings into their location and putting the retaining rings back too some bashing. There're very tight - no wonder I struggled to remove them. Had to bash them with socket head and a wooden log.
Its very satisfactory to do a job like this and know that it's running smoothly and well lubricated.

I put grease around the spacers and retaining ring. Im not sure if that was a good thing as the grease might help to attract the grit. But the spacers do spin (with the wheel) within the retaining rings, so some lubrication there is really needed.

cavegiant

When bashing the bearings in, did you put any stress on the inner race?
If so, you have probably taken 99% off the life of the bearings.

So if this fails again fast you know why.

Also whoever said that if a bearing is grindy it needs binning is unfortunately not correct.
Cleaning out the grease, rinsing through with plusgas, then cleaning and re greasing can put most bearings back together. Not as good as a new bearing, but can add a lot to the life.

d3matt

cavegiant wrote:

When bashing the bearings in, did you put any stress on the inner race? If so, you have probably taken 99% off the life of the bearings.

Very good point. I tried not too and I don't think I did. I used a socket that was as large as I could fit within the hub. It was the best I could do with the tools I used. Hence why I also used a round log as a hammer to start with and knocked them in with that first, to soften the blow.

cavegiant wrote:

Also whoever said that if a bearing is grindy it needs binning is unfortunately not correct. Cleaning out the grease, rinsing through with plusgas, then cleaning and re greasing can put most bearings back together. Not as good as a new bearing, but can add a lot to the life.

I'm now going to do this with the old (well six months old!) bearings and keep these as my spare set for next time. Never done this before, but it's easy to do and again, gives you masses of satisfaction.

TuckerUK

A word of warning about stainless bearings, generally they are considerably softer than standard bearings.

For a good grease Castrol LM, or Castrol CL if you like a bit more waterproofing. Or buy a dedicated bike grease if you want to pay ten times as much from a company with no background in lubricant technology.

Must save this thread for the next time the old 'cartridge bearings are so easy and quick compared to cup & cone' nonsense is posted.

d3matt

I have some Castrol LM grease, but I called into Halfords to see if there was anything better.
500g Castrol LM grease = £6.99 (£13.98 per Kg)
100g Finish Line Bike grease = £9.99 (£99.99 per Kg)

My pot of Castrol LM grease has lasted me about 15 years! And I've used it on many old Land Rovers and still have some left.