Loose Flange After Rear Bearing Replacement

[sambulance]

hi all

just replaced my rear wheel bearing only to find the flange had some play after i pressed it in to the bearing.is this at all normal as it felt ok once i reattached the bolt which holds the front washer and the abs ring at the hub rear. i did the job with decent tools and the flange had no scorching or pitting before reassembly. any advice from someone who has done the job before would be great

[sparky Paul]

The bearing is a dual race angular contact type, and the centre races are in two halves. The bearing may feel a little loose until the hub is tightened up, although it should not be noticable if the hub has been pressed in correctly.

 

When pressing the hub shaft in, it is important that the rear of the the bearing is supported around the centre race using a suitable spacer. If you pushing against the outer race or the hub carrier casting, the inner races can be forced apart, damaging the bearing.

[sambulance]

Thanks for the info Paul. I fear I may have damaged the bearing when installing it. As the spacer I used fits inside the bearing rear and the flange will only go so far before hitting it. So for the last push I had to use the rear of the casting to pull against.

As it is tight when bolted up I will see what my mot garage say when it goes in this week.

Thanks again

[sparky Paul]

If the bearing feels smooth and has no play, MOT man will be happy - and certainly don't mention anything to him.

 

What happens as a result of pressing through the bearing is that the races can be marked by the ball bearings. The bearing can feel fine initially, but the race surfaces may start to fail further down the line. There's no way of telling if this will happen, or when, so I would just see how it goes, there's no point worrying about it now.

 

If in a year or two the bearing starts rumbling, swap it again.