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Best links for R75/5 wheel bearing maintenance?
- Thread starter ebeeby
- Start date
Stan_R80/7
New member
Take this with a grain of salt, since my wheels are for a /7 - but I believe they are basically the same as a /5. The front wheel bearings are held under caps. My Clymer (and Haynes) manuals describe a type I wheel - which matches the description of my /7 wheels. Also, I think there are some links to wheel bearing replacement in the resources page.
To inspect and repack the wheel bearings:
The front wheel has oil seal caps on the axles which cover the bearings. Remove the caps to expose the bearings and repack them. The brake disc needs removal for the seal cover wrench. I used a simple strap wrench for my bearing covers.
The rear wheel has another bearing cover on the non-drive side which is held on with five socket head cap screws. Removing that cover allows removing the bearing - just like on the front wheels. The bearing can be examined and repacked. The inner bearing near the splines cannot be easily removed. I bought a special tool through cycleworks.net to allow re-greasing (but not inspecting) that bearing.
If there is anything wrong with the bearings or races, then the above does not apply. Instead there is a heating the hub, making a bearing removal assembly out of pipe, and drifting the bearings and spacer out of the aluminum hub. This approach is similar for both front and rear wheels.
But, in the spirit of doing the simple easy tasks first, removing and inspecting the bearings is the first step. As Duane points out on his website, the bearings are intended for sidecar use and over designed. So, the likelihood of a bad bearing is low provided the bike was not parked in water or the previous meticulous owner pressure washed the wheel bearings. Good luck!
To inspect and repack the wheel bearings:
The front wheel has oil seal caps on the axles which cover the bearings. Remove the caps to expose the bearings and repack them. The brake disc needs removal for the seal cover wrench. I used a simple strap wrench for my bearing covers.
The rear wheel has another bearing cover on the non-drive side which is held on with five socket head cap screws. Removing that cover allows removing the bearing - just like on the front wheels. The bearing can be examined and repacked. The inner bearing near the splines cannot be easily removed. I bought a special tool through cycleworks.net to allow re-greasing (but not inspecting) that bearing.
If there is anything wrong with the bearings or races, then the above does not apply. Instead there is a heating the hub, making a bearing removal assembly out of pipe, and drifting the bearings and spacer out of the aluminum hub. This approach is similar for both front and rear wheels.
But, in the spirit of doing the simple easy tasks first, removing and inspecting the bearings is the first step. As Duane points out on his website, the bearings are intended for sidecar use and over designed. So, the likelihood of a bad bearing is low provided the bike was not parked in water or the previous meticulous owner pressure washed the wheel bearings. Good luck!
The /7 wheels are the exception to the rule...for the most part. As you indicated, to get the complete bearing out (including the races) heat needs to be applied to the hub. Mike V. has a very nice thread on how to do this.
But for the /5, the hubs are steel and you can basically drift them out...a little heat helps the process tremendously. I did my /2 bearings using Duanes website.
One thing that is needed for these bearings is the preload...Duane mentions this and that having the right amount of preload will keep the bearings very happy for a long, long time. Again, Mike V's thread discusses this. His thread can be found in the Rebuild Sites with Photos thread at the top of the Airhead forum.
But for the /5, the hubs are steel and you can basically drift them out...a little heat helps the process tremendously. I did my /2 bearings using Duanes website.
One thing that is needed for these bearings is the preload...Duane mentions this and that having the right amount of preload will keep the bearings very happy for a long, long time. Again, Mike V's thread discusses this. His thread can be found in the Rebuild Sites with Photos thread at the top of the Airhead forum.
