Issue w/ Installing Rear Wheel Bearings

[Teh_K]

So, I was tapping in my new AllBalls wheel bearings on my rear wheel, and something kind of messed up:

I tapped in the right side bearing 'til it seated, flipped the wheel over, put in the spacer (making sure it's resting on the bearing), and it looked a little odd. The spacer was resting higher than the seat for the bearing(!). I fumbled w/ it a little, and everything seemed to check out OK. This being my personal 1st bearing change, I couldn't say with certainty if this was wrong, so I tapped in the other bearing - and sure enough, it stopped on the spacer, making it very tough to spin the inner race (not good). So... I inserted my remover collet and tapped the 2nd bearing out 3 taps and it came off the spacer enough so that everything seemed normal.

How was it that the spacer sat higher than the seat for the 2nd bearing?? I thought you were supposed to tap in the bearings until they seated, but this one hit the spacer before the seat... I don't see how I could have messed anything up...

[BarMatt80]

are you sure the bearings are the correct ones? you might have ordered the right ones and the box said they were correct, but what is inside might have been wrong.

i remember putting mine in...seated fine.

[rexazz2]

are the bearings all the same dimensions, is the inner race off set by any chance
the outer race should seat against the lip

[Teh_K]

Well, I can't check the bearing now 'cause it's in the wheel - but I'm fairly certain it's the correct size. The outer race fit snugly into the rim, the axle slides through the inner race just fine, and even IF it were thicker, it wouldn't have caused this issue.

As far as I can tell, the only scenarios that could cause this are: (as rexazz2 said) the inner race is offset from the outer race, or the seat in my rim is simply just too deep.

I pretty sure the inner race wasn't offset from the outer race: looking at it in the wheel, the bearing is flat, and there is no play if I try to wiggle the inner race. As far as the seat being too deep... I'm not sure how the original bearings were installed at the factory, but maybe they're just pressed in a certain distance - not necessarily until they seat.

Anyway, I brought the tires to the shop this morning to get new rubber on them, and I casually asked the tech about it, and he said "yea, sometimes they just don't seat all the way"...

Seems weird to me.

[Teh_K]

Actually, I just made an interesting discovery: apparently, the spacer IS supposed to be longer than the distance of the 2 seats for the bearings. From factory manual...



The area that has 'Clearance' shows that after the right-hand bearing is seated, the left-hand bearing is only tapped in until it meets the spacer. So... I guess everything's okay - I just hope that I didn't back the bearing out too far.

[thetable]

Ran into the same thing, but then I reseated them using my lazy method and it came out just find.

Lazy method: Throw new bearings in freezer before you begin. Beat out old bearings, or apply heat to hub and cold to bearing. and watch bearings basically fall out. Get hub good and warm, run into house and grab one bearing and drop it in, then repeat for other side. They drop in right where they need to be without nearly as much effort.