newbie: ASK abec 7 bearings problem

**Mrzappa** · 07-15-2009 05:42 AM

Hi,

Ive got a total new longboard setup (kilima, randal 180, big zigs) but got a problem with my bearings.

Ive got these ask abec 7 bearing (with red rubber schield on one side).
After only riding for 1 hour my four outher bearing (side were you tighten them with screw) almost dont rotate anymore.

I thought i thighten them to hard but i still have loose space between my screw/speedring/bearing!
Ive now changed those bearing with my 4 year old skateboard bearing (lucky abec7) and no problem with those.

Coudl it be that it happened because i placed my bearings in my wheels with the red rubber side of my bearing to the outside?? Should that red rubber side be on the inside?

Thnks

**guitarchick2182** · 07-15-2009 06:53 AM

you'd want the rubber shield facing outside it stops dirt and other #### from entering your bearings and ####### them up.

perhaps you bent the shield when you put them on. or try cleaning them

**Mrzappa** · 07-15-2009 07:11 AM

Originally Posted by guitarchick2182

you'd want the rubber shield facing outside it stops dirt and other #### from entering your bearings and ####### them up.

perhaps you bent the shield when you put them on. or try cleaning them

thnks for the reply.

There is no damage on the bearing, i never tighted them so that there was no space.

And cleaning? they are fresh, new out of the box ....?!

**guitarchick2182** · 07-15-2009 07:17 AM

haha sorry i cant think of any other reason why they arent spinning as well...either clean them or get new ones!

you might've just been unlucky and gotten a defect bearing?? but lucky you had a spare set of bearings lying around.

good luck with that

**turtle** · 07-15-2009 07:37 AM

Use spacers aswell... helps your bearings last alllllooottttt longer.

**Mrzappa** · 07-15-2009 08:41 AM

I use spacers.
Like i said in my first post, its not 1 bearing, all 4 of them have it.

Well it works now whith my skateboard bearings but i think its weird.

**stringtheory** · 07-15-2009 08:50 AM

Let me ask you this. When you say 4 of them don't roll, do you mean if you spin the wheel with your hand, or when you are riding it? If you can ride it and they are fine, that's all that matters. Sometimes new bearings come with a thicker grease like lube that needs to be broken in.

Bottom line, if you can stand on the baord and skate it, it's fine. But if they are seized up when you try to skate, something's wrong.

**Mrzappa** · 07-15-2009 11:58 AM

Originally Posted by stringtheory

Let me ask you this. When you say 4 of them don't roll, do you mean if you spin the wheel with your hand, or when you are riding it? If you can ride it and they are fine, that's all that matters. Sometimes new bearings come with a thicker grease like lube that needs to be broken in.

Bottom line, if you can stand on the baord and skate it, it's fine. But if they are seized up when you try to skate, something's wrong.

They are not totally locked, but because its only the 4 outher bearings i can still ride, but i dont think its ok when only 1 bearing of the two in a wheel is rotating

When i gave the wheels a spin right after i ansembled they kept spinning (think more then 30 seconds with a gentle handspin), after one hour riding its reduced to like 10 seconds.
So even if i still can move i cant imagine its "fine" to ride around on 1 bearing/wheel.

Also with the replacement bearings from my old skateboard (4 years old , never cleaned) they keep on spinning again.

ty for replying

**stringtheory** · 07-15-2009 12:16 PM

New bearings are more exact in their tolerances because they haven't been strained by load, impact, lateral g-forces etc. They will feel stiffer at first, but when broken in are way better than an older used bearing.

Usually, older bearings (so long as they aren't rusted to sh!t) seem to roll better because the race ways have taken a beating, as have the balls and cages. They are not as tight at the seams any more. Their tolerances have become sloppy. This translates to looser play in the bearing and hence the reason older bearings appear to spin better.

This doesn't necessarily pertain to your particular bearings, just in general.

**Thatoneguy** · 07-16-2009 12:34 AM

Yeah like someone else said, it's probably the bearing lube/grease from the factory that's keeping the bearing from spinning. If you honestly ride it down some hills and don't see improvement I would suggest soaking them in paint thinner for a period of time and wash/drying them before reloading them with some lube that you know is legit.

The bearing might spin significantly better when you pull them out of the paint thinner, but don't let that tempt you to ride them un-lubed. That's dangerous, kid!

(Remember this is assuming the bearing cages and so forth are flawless)