[PhillT]

Are the rear wheel bearings supposed to have a shield on only the outer side?

How much grease can I put in the cavity between the inner axle shaft oil seal, and the wheel bearing? ( This is where all the grease from the wheel bearings got expelled into, hence the failure at 160,000km.)

Can I install the bearing and locking collar with an appropriate sized length of water pipe and a large hammer, and do I need to freeze the axle and heat the collar prior to install?

Thanks.

[steak_knife]

PhillT wrote:

1 Are the rear wheel bearings supposed to have a shield on only the outer side?

2 How much grease can I put in the cavity between the inner axle shaft oil seal, and the wheel bearing? ( This is where all the grease from the wheel bearings got expelled into, hence the failure at 160,000km.)

3 Can I install the bearing and locking collar with an appropriate sized length of water pipe and a large hammer,3a and do I need to freeze the axle and heat the collar prior to install?

Thanks.

1. Yes, that is the outer race, you can cut that off to expose the inner race so it can be removed.
2. Don't, being a sealed bearing the grease is already in the bearing & anything you put in there will foul up the seal(replace the seal)
3. That will do it, I find that a mallet is not quite up to the job tho, the water pipe can be used as a make shift slide hammer.
3a. you can if you want but it is not 100% necessary to do so.


Hope that help's

[steak_knife]

P.s get a new retainer (or lock ring) especially if you have ABS, thay normally don't like to come off & Abs retainer's are the "tone wheel" wich is part of it's scene system.

[PhillT]

1. Yes, that is the outer race, you can cut that off to expose the inner race so it can be removed.
2. Don't, being a sealed bearing the grease is already in the bearing & anything you put in there will foul up the seal(replace the seal)
3. That will do it, I find that a mallet is not quite up to the job tho, the water pipe can be used as a make shift slide hammer.
3a. you can if you want but it is not 100% necessary to do so.[/quote]

1. Don't know why you are talking about inner and outer races. I said inner side of the bearing has no shield, outer does.

2. As stated, the bearings have shield on one side only. (Bearings come in shielded or not. No such thing as a sealed bearing) One side shielded only, is why the grease does not stay in the bearings.

3. OK thanks, I only have rudimentary tools no press.

[steak_knife]

PhillT wrote:

1. Don't know why you are talking about inner and outer races. I said inner side of the bearing has no shield, outer does.

2. As stated, the bearings have shield on one side only. (Bearings come in shielded or not. No such thing as a sealed bearing) One side shielded only, is why the grease does not stay in the bearings.

3. OK thanks, I only have rudimentary tools no press.

1. That's a seal! Not a shield as not to many wheel bearing fight with shield's! And yes, that's the way thay are.

2. Yes there is!

3. Have fun with that.

[weaves]

PhillT wrote:

2. As stated, the bearings have shield on one side only. (Bearings come in shielded or not. No such thing as a sealed bearing) One side shielded only, is why the grease does not stay in the bearings.

You have SHEILDED (2ZR - two sides sheilded, ZR - one side sheilded etc), they are metal and they don't completely seal the bearing. They are usually fixed to the outter ring and don't touch the inner ring but have an extremely small gab. These bearings are best for high speed applications, as they produce no friction on the bearing causing less heat. Often used in electric motors.

and you have SEALED (2RS, LLU, 2NSE mean two rubber seals). these are sealed, the rubber seal again locks to the outer ring and has a lip that runs on the inner ring. These are best for keeping dust, dirt, debree and water out of the bearing. The seal does create a rolling resistance and theirfore isn't suited to all applications.

weaves

[PhillT]

weaves wrote:

PhillT wrote:

2. As stated, the bearings have shield on one side only. (Bearings come in shielded or not. No such thing as a sealed bearing) One side shielded only, is why the grease does not stay in the bearings.

You have SHEILDED (2ZR - two sides sheilded, ZR - one side sheilded etc), they are metal and they don't completely seal the bearing. They are usually fixed to the outter ring and don't touch the inner ring but have an extremely small gab. These bearings are best for high speed applications, as they produce no friction on the bearing causing less heat. Often used in electric motors.

and you have SEALED (2RS, LLU, 2NSE mean two rubber seals). these are sealed, the rubber seal again locks to the outer ring and has a lip that runs on the inner ring. These are best for keeping dust, dirt, debree and water out of the bearing. The seal does create a rolling resistance and theirfore isn't suited to all applications.

weaves

Thanks Weaves, I stand corrected. Apologies.

These are rubber and metal with the letters RKBIH so I guess the R means rubber, so sealed not shielded.

Are the G/vitara supposed to be shielded on both sides or one side?
If one side is correct, then how much grease if any, is added to the cavity between the bearing and inner oil seal?
When I pulled the axles, there appeared to be hardly any grease considering the open sided bearing and the cavity size. I would estimate the total amount to be no more than a slightly heaped teaspoon full, most of which was nowhere near the bearing itself.

[weaves]

The bearing will already be greased. If you look in it and see a clear/transparent vaseline looking stuff, thats all the grease the bearing actually needs.

i've never done a wheel bearing on a GV but if you feel it needs more then by all means add some. Just don't pack it full, too much grease can be just as bad as too little.

maybe someone here who's actually done these before who can shed some light. Steknig?

weaves

[PhillT]

weaves wrote:

The bearing will already be greased. If you look in it and see a clear/transparent vaseline looking stuff, thats all the grease the bearing actually needs.
i've never done a wheel bearing on a GV but if you feel it needs more then by all means add some. Just don't pack it full, too much grease can be just as bad as too little.
maybe someone here who's actually done these before who can shed some light. Steknig?
weaves

Weaves, the bearings etc. arrived today, and are sealed on one side only.

I washed all the grease out of them, and as there is an oil seal on both sides of the bearing, (onto the axle) I mixed some EP90 oil into MBL grease which made it much thinner, and put that into the bearing and extra into the cavity, but nowhere near filled it.
This mix is a bit thicker than Castrol SL Heavy, so will run slightly, and hopefully keep re lubing the bearing as it is expelled and runs back in.

I had the axles in the freezer for two days, so they were at minus 18C and with a bit of oil on the shaft, the bearings went on with three light hits, and I heated the locking collars on the gas stove until they just started to change colour, they then literally dropped on without any persuasion at all. It was interesting to watch them shrink on as the got rapidly cooled by the frozen axles, and the oil squeezed out. Too easy this way

Heres hoping they last a bit longer than the last ones.