Front Wheel Bearing Remove/Replace

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

Hoping to powdercoat my rims before the riding season starts. Front wheel bearings will be removed, and since they're at 125K miles, replaced with new.

 

Official BMW manual shows a number of official BMW tools, including a puller, being used in the process.

 

Is there a "shadetree" procedure that negates the need for many/all of these tools? Can I easily fab up what I need for the job?

 

In addition to the left/right bearings, what other parts will I need to replace? I vaguely recall the center spacer being damaged by some folks, either intentionally or accidentally, during this procedure. Thoughts?

 

Thanks...

[smiller]

The wheel bearings are a tight fit and can be difficult to remove the first time, but not necessarily. You need to get a long drift on the inner race of the bearing to be removed (inserted from the opposite side of the hub) and sometimes the spacer interferes with getting a good grip on the bearing with the end of the drift. Whether this is the case or not will depend on how deeply the original bearings were seated at the factory... sometimes there is enough clearance to let you rock the spacer down a bit and other times the bearings are in far enough to lock the spacer in place, creating the aforementioned problem. All you can do is give 'er a try and see what happens... if you can get a grip on the first bearing you can just tap it out, and of course the second one will be easy because you can remove the spacer entirely. You will get them out one way or the other, but with more or less cussing depending on the above. Beyond the bearings I think the only thing you need is a new grease seal for the speedo housing (or maybe not if you're very careful in removing the original, but I'd replace it given the miles on your bike.)

 

Of course if you have a Harbor Freight nearby one of these might make the job easier...

[John Montoya]

I know this sounds kind of stupid, but put the wheel out in the sun before you start. The aluminum hub will expand faster than the steel bearing races. When you go to re-install put the bearings in the freezer overnight, they will go in much easier.

 

John

[T__]

Hoping to powdercoat my rims before the riding season starts. Front wheel bearings will be removed, and since they're at 125K miles, replaced with new.

 

Official BMW manual shows a number of official BMW tools, including a puller, being used in the process.

 

Is there a "shadetree" procedure that negates the need for many/all of these tools? Can I easily fab up what I need for the job?

 

In addition to the left/right bearings, what other parts will I need to replace? I vaguely recall the center spacer being damaged by some folks, either intentionally or accidentally, during this procedure. Thoughts?

 

Thanks...

 

Mitch, if you are just going to scarp the bearings anyway just drop a bolt or nut or any piece of metal into one side inner bearing race then tack weld it in place.. Then come though from the other side with along drift & simply knock it out.. Once one side is removed the other side will easily drive out.. \

 

Twisty

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

Mitch, if you are just going to scarp the bearings anyway just drop a bolt or nut or any piece of metal into one side inner bearing race then tack weld it in place.. Then come though from the other side with along drift & simply knock it out.. Once one side is removed the other side will easily drive out.. \

 

This sounds attractive. I'll try seth's method first, and if the spacer won't cooperate, I will weld a bolt into the inner race and whale on it. Thanks!

[OoPEZoO]

This sounds attractive. I'll try seth's method first, and if the spacer won't cooperate, I will weld a bolt into the inner race and whale on it. Thanks!

 

Nothing says fine German precision like a little welding followed by brute force applied with a large blunt object.....

 

When in doubt, use a bigger hammer

[eddd]

This sounds attractive. I'll try seth's method first, and if the spacer won't cooperate, I will weld a bolt into the inner race and whale on it. Thanks!

 

Nothing says fine German precision like a little welding followed by brute force applied with a large blunt object.....

 

When in doubt, use a bigger hammer

 

 

Why would you want to use crude hand tools when this is available.

[ShovelStrokeEd]

In case the spacer is not cooperating by dropping out of the way, it shouldn't BTW, if the bearings are installed properly, a small, hook pry bar inserted in one bearing and pushing on the spacer will get it out of the way. Then insert said long drift through from the other side and tap the bearing out. Do not use the spacer as a drift to remove the remaining bearing.

 

If you are gonna powder coat the wheels, make darn sure you very carefully mask the outer bearing bores in the wheel. Don't want to screw up the internal bearing clearances. (I'm sure you know this.)

[Godfather]

Mitch, I had removed wheel bearings from a Zuki and had success with a heat gun to heat up the wheel prior to removing the bearing.

[Jerry Johnston]

With your talent and abilities, you don't even need any advice. It's an easy project - I used a blunt screw driver as a drift punch and knocked mine out. Then I used the old bearings to tap the new in place.

[KDeline]

 

Nothing says fine German precision like a little welding followed by brute force applied with a large blunt object.....

 

When in doubt, use a bigger hammer

 

 

You've never seen the tech's work on the old airheads back in the 80's, the only tools they used on anything was a drift and hammer. When I had to replace a neutral light switch on a 84 R100RT, I could not get the bottom (frame brace?) back in, tech's said bevel it at both ends and hammer it back into place. It worked!