how do you replace and clean bearings?

[cool hand mike]

first off...how do you pop em out? i couldn't really find anything to push em out with, so i don't know.

and once they're out, how do you clean them?

i'm sorry if these questions sound stupid...i've never tried cleaning, lubing or popping my balls.

thanks.

[Fiend]

Haha, balls...

Ok, Immaturity aside, finding something to get them outwith isn't hard. A flat head screwdriver, or really any other screwdriver will work well. It should be smaller than the inner bearing hole, so that you can angle it once you've got it in. All you have to do is remove the wheel from your trucks, stick the screwdriver in so that the tip is in between the two bearings, angle it up a bit (make sure you're not pressing against the shields when you push) and then push. You may need to lay the wheel on the ground and tap them out with a hammer, but be careful! Tap lightly, and you should be fine. Hope this helped.

As far as cleaning and relubing, just do a search for cleaning bearings, or go back a few pages into this section of the forum, you should find everything you need. I just did the same thing, so it's all there.

*edit for the last bit

[Jax]

Also, you can just catch the inner race (ring) of the bearing with the axle and push it out. you pull the axle nut off and then take the wheel off until the axle is inside the wheel and then tilt the wheel so that the axle catches the bearing and push. Also, if you grease the outer race of the bearing, they will come out a lot easier.

[ol'dude]

Bike shops (and probably machine shops) have a nifty little tool that squeezes in between the diameter of the axle hole, spreads out, and then you pull. It's called a bearing puller.
If you use a flat blade screwdriver, I reccomend pushing a little on a variety of sides (like 45 degrees from the first push) until it pops. That will save you from deformation.

[CRASS]

i have no freakin idea how to remove the sheilds from my Bones Reds.. just tell me!! (and you take off the red shield, right?)

[ol'dude]

Tip o' the needle.

[solachola0]

No offense, but i don't recommend popping bearings out with a
screwdriver..it's easier to bend the inner race than you think,
nevermind the sheild or seal...

balls sit in an inner race kind of like this:

|O|



if you place pressure here -->|_| or here ( as you would
with the tip of that screwdriver ) |_| <--

you take the chance of indenting that 'wall' because you're
actually placing an angulated pressure in the pull ( you're not
really popping them ) and the bearings will catch or rub...

the best thing to do is to get a bearing removal tool which are
easy to find at home depot( they come in different
sizes though..)...it goes inside the hole then kind
of expands ( this is tough to explain in writing ) and evenly
applies pressure as you pull the bearing out...once one is out,
you can take a pen that fits inside the race of the opposite
bearing and just tap that
one out without any risk to the whole thing...

or, you can go to the pleasure tools site and get a lesson
with pictures...

of course, none of this matters if you have the $$ to throw
away on new bearings all the time...

[/i]

[Jones]

my stages of clean.

1, remove bearing from wheel with end of truck. twist it out the wheel.
2, remove bones shield with a tiny pin. Both sides.
3, place bearings and race in tub of white spirit. agitate, and remove.
4, leave for moisture to evaporate
5, lube with sewing mahcine oil. or bones lube cream (2 drops)
6, push back the shields.
7, push into wheel. attatch to truck, go ride.

dont drop shields into white spirit or anyhting like that. i think it messes with the rubber.

Never had problems with cleaning bearings like this. Im sure people do things differently.

[CRASS]

whats white spirit?

[Jones]

white spirit, is a paintbrush cleaner/Solvent here in the UK. I find it works well.

[ol'dude]

I use a super heavy-duty citrus degreaser. Drop the bearings in a little jar, cap it, and agitate. Knocks the grunge right off.

[Jones]

yea, sounds the same as what i do. but i dont really feel the need to clean the bearings that much really.

so do you get a sweet citrus smell when the bearings heat up?
gotta be worth doing for that.

[ol'dude]

Yeah, I smell like orange blossoms when I skate. All the bees follow me around. Keeps the dogs from buggin' me.

[cool hand mike]

Yeah, I smell like orange blossoms when I skate. All the bees follow me around. Keeps the dogs from buggin' me.

haha~are you being serious???

so you take out the retainer, and take out the balls and put the balls only in the degreaser?

[ol'dude]

are you being serious???

Rarely

so you take out the retainer, and take out the balls and put the balls only in the degreaser?

Nope, pop the shield only, drop the monkeys in the sauce. Too much trouble (and possible destruction) awaits you if you try to disassemble them completely.

Pop the shields
Drop in jar half-full of cleaning love
Cap, and shake somewhat vigorously
Dump the mess in an enviromentally acceptable way
Lay out the bearings open side down

Give 'em lots of time to dry out. Then hit them with one or two drops of Speed Cream, put the shields back on, and skate.

Better yet, have a spare set of bearings aroud, to put in your wheels during this process. That way, you aren't in a hurry to get it done, and you'll do it right. Save one of those nifty marketing containers to put the freshly cleaned bearings in, and they happily await their rotation in the schedule.

[CRASS]

so would some of that OxyClean Orange Degreaser crap work?

[Jones]

i imagine any kind of degreaser would work.

[CRASS]

Oh yeah.. why is WD-40 bad again? someone asked me & i forgot.

[Fiend]

It's a degreaser and not a lube. So it cleans all the gunk away, and feels like it's lubing your bearings (they will spin well), but then it dries away, and you've got nothing on 'em. So always re-lube after using WD40.

[ol'dude]

WD-40 also has fumes that will kill a lab rat in about twenty seconds. It's pure solvent, and gets the gunk out, but there are better ways.
Save the 40 for the rusted axles on that Bill Danforth you find in your Uncle's garage.