Rear Wheel Bearing Installation - Problem encountered

BakerBoy

It's all small stuff.
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So now you want to pay some 16 yr old kid in the back of a shop to take a ballpeen hammer and the wrong size socket and pound them in until the are both seated incorrectly and binding? Get the proper tools and do it yourself, that way you know it was done correctly and with care...02
Pffft. Ball peen hammers are for 10 year olds. By the time they're 16, they've been taught how to make things glow and smoke using a blow torch!

:D
 
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I did pay the 16-year-old to do mine and he must have had a good hammer as they seem to be working. I've never done this job and have no expertise in the area at all.
I do have a few questions on this topic as I`d like to do this myself next time. I don`t know the cost of the parts in question, nor the tool for same but what I was thinking about the issue of driving the new ones in with the old outer race versus the actual tool and I was wondering:
a) If you took that bearing and cut the outer race to make it smaller would it not flex and allow the piece on the far side of the hammer blow to fall behind a bit on each strike?
2) Could this be avoided by purchasing a cheap bearing that is just a hair smaller and it would leave the inner and outer races intact to drive both at same time?
c) How much is the tool and does it have a solid center?
ii) Could you weld in a bar across the center of the old bearing and achieve the same result?

I would like to save $$ on maintenance as well and paying the shop to do stuff I could achieve makes my wallet hurt but I'd still want to get it right.

Thanks and I look forward to the replies.

Mike
 
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I agree with John (jfheath) on this issue.

I know this post is a couple of years old but I wanted to add my experience to rear bearing changes on the ST1300 and add a few new items to the discussion. It is a common error to assume that both bearings are seated by the outer race against the inner seats of the wheel hub. The ST1300 shop manual is not clear about this and in the 2003-2004 manual (they might have corrected later on - I don't know) there is an minor error in the procedure as they have mislabeled the second bearing as "left" instead of "right" On the ST1300 you first DO drive the left bearing in until it seats as normal. Next make sure to put the distance collar in and when you put the Right bearing in you must understand that it DOES NOT seat against the hub seat like you would assume. You drive it very carefully until it kisses the distance collar an no more. IF you are using the proper driving tools from Honda opposed to an old socket you will see that it drives both the inner and outer bearing races in at the same time which allows for the correct seating against the distance collar. You however can still overdrive it even with the proper Honda driving tools but you have a lot better chance of doing it right vs using a socket which puts the driving force ONLY on the outer bearing race. I have not seen a lot of documentation on this and my shop manual doesn't really address this clearly. I checked my Haynes Shop manual and that does not address it either. I learned about this problem when I first did a bearing change on my old ST1100...I had the problem then of what I thought as the distance collar being too long and were making my new bearings very very tight. After asking a lot of questions I deduced the same issue as being talked about here and that is that the distance collar is what you drive your second bearing's inner race to and no more. One more point. Now, before I do a bearing change I check the distance collar spacing by moving it around to see how tight it is before I put the new bearing in. My experience is that it is suppose to be touching but still movable after the new bearing is in place. I assume that people who have early rear bearing failures are overdriving the right bearing in. Bearing will not "wear" in...they instead will wear out too soon if they start off being too tight. If you over-drive them, then plan on starting over again with new bearings. YMMV Tom Johnson - East Winthrop, Maine
 
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W0QNX

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Sounds correct Tom. In place of the Honda tool I use a large diameter threaded rod, 1/2 I think and some BIG washers. The washers also press the outer race while staying even with the inner race. I just start the bearing and pull it in with the nut on the threaded rod.

Use 2 or three big OD washers on both sides, left right therefore not putting force on either inner race. I guess I was lucky in that the I found washers just the right size (just under the bearing OD) easily.
 
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I agree with John (jfheath) on this issue.

I know this post is a couple of years old but I wanted to add my experience to rear bearing changes on the ST1300 and add a few new items to the discussion. It is a common error to assume that both bearings are seated by the outer race against the inner seats of the wheel hub. The ST1300 shop manual is not clear about this and in the 2003-2004 manual (they might have corrected later on - I don't know) there is an minor error in the procedure as they have mislabeled the second bearing as "left" instead of "right" On the ST1300 you first DO drive the left bearing in until it seats as normal. Next make sure to put the distance collar in and when you put the Right bearing in you must understand that it DOES NOT seat against the hub seat like you would assume. You drive it very carefully until it kisses the distance collar an no more. IF you are using the proper driving tools from Honda opposed to an old socket you will see that it drives both the inner and outer bearing races in at the same time which allows for the correct seating against the distance collar. You however can still overdrive it even with the proper Honda driving tools but you have a lot better chance of doing it right vs using a socket which puts the driving force ONLY on the outer bearing race. I have not seen a lot of documentation on this and my shop manual doesn't really address this clearly. I checked my Haynes Shop manual and that does not address it either. I learned about this problem when I first did a bearing change on my old ST1100...I had the problem then of what I thought as the distance collar being too long and were making my new bearings very very tight. After asking a lot of questions I deduced the same issue as being talked about here and that is that the distance collar is what you drive your second bearing's inner race to and no more. One more point. Now, before I do a bearing change I check the distance collar spacing by moving it around to see how tight it is before I put the new bearing in. My experience is that it is suppose to be touching but still movable after the new bearing is in place. I assume that people who have early rear bearing failures are overdriving the right bearing in. Bearing will not "wear" in...they instead will wear out too soon if they start off being too tight. If you over-drive them, then plan on starting over again with new bearings. YMMV Tom Johnson - East Winthrop, Maine
Correct, I learned this the hard way after installing the first set of rear bearings on my old ST1100s. That inner spacer will preload the inner races of the new bearings and eventually ruin them if you are not careful and drive in the right one too far. It seems that the guy at CBR bearings schooled me on that one.
 
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I agree with John (jfheath) on this issue.

You however can still overdrive it even with the proper Honda driving tools but you have a lot better chance of doing it right vs using a socket which puts the driving force ONLY on the outer bearing race.
I've never changed my own wheel bearings on the ST, but wouldn't the proper size socket apply driving force on both bearing races if the "back side" (i.e. the end that fits onto the ratchet or extension) is placed against the bearing, then driven in with a rubber or plastic mallet? I also like ZIAMON's method.
 

T_C

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IF you are using the proper driving tools from Honda opposed to an old socket you will see that it drives both the inner and outer bearing races in at the same time which allows for the correct seating against the distance collar.
Why would I want to drive the inner race of the bearing when it is not being resisted by anything? The only face you should be driving against is the one with resistance. The inner race of a ball bearing is not designed for sideways thrust.
 
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Why would I want to drive the inner race of the bearing when it is not being resisted by anything? The only face you should be driving against is the one with resistance. The inner race of a ball bearing is not designed for sideways thrust.
I agree you can never drive a bearing in by driving the center race only...sure way to ruin the bearing. My point is that the Honda driver is a large flat driver covering both the outer and inner races keeping them in the same plain. Yes it does drive the outer race in but since it is flat and covers both inner and outer races...when the distance collar touches the inner race of the bearing you will hear/feel it kiss..since the official driver covers both bearing races it will not push the bearing any further into the hub unless of course you keep driving it - pushing the opposite bearing center out. I take my time and remove the driver every so often to see how close the inner race is to the distance collar and as soon as the inner race gets very close to the collar I am very careful about using too much force. You want it to just contact the collar but when you are done you should be able to move the collar slightly. Too tight and the collar will not wiggle as it will be sandwiched between both inner races pushing them out relative to the outer races. The right bearing's outer race should never fully seat in the hub as crazy as that sounds. Tom Johnson - East Winthrop, Maine
 
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