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Rear wheel bearings


JamesS

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I wonder if I could call on your collective knowledge. My rear wheel has been squealing when I wheel the bike backwards. Have taken wheel off and the spindle was bone dry. I intended to re-grease and re-install, but as it's off, how do I check if the problem is the bearings?

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outrunner

Just stick your finger in the inner bearing race and turn it to and fro, if it's iffy you will feel it. On the other hand, if it's a DCT model it could be the handbrake, mine does that now and again and I just take it apart and clean/lube it as the barake catches all the dirt being under the disc.

 

Andy.

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Dunnster

What Andy says +1 then when you've re installed the wheel, grab it at 12 and 6 o'clock position, rock it/push pull it back and forth away and towards you, repeat at 9 and 3 o'clock position. Give the wheel a spin and repeat again for good measure.If there's any play in the bearings you will feel it. 

 

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Grumpy old man

When you're moving  the wheel, as above, listen sometimes you can hear them knock/click. Oops didn't realise the wheel was off. What Andy says.

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trisaki

My Himalayan does  the same when you push the bike backwards  I think it's the rear brake pads  'slightly out of shape  'as you only really use the brake going forward  ,maybe 2/3 being used and leaves a very slight high point  which highlights itself when pushed backwards  ' well brake has been well serviced  and works fine so I'm not going to investigate any further unless I get a problem 

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JamesS

I'm sure it was the spindle. It was so tight and dry I needed a hammer and chisel to get it out (took about 10 minutes of serious hammering). Cleaned and greased up and it slid back in perfectly. Squeal has completely gone. Maybe just something that needs doing around the 33k mark?

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shiggsy

Should really get greased every time the tyre is changed.

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rjp996

One thing I find needs attention regularly is the calliper slide pins. Maybe because my bike gets put away wet a lot, I find the capiler does not slide on the pins well and makes the pads rub on the disc when wheeling the bike out. 

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outrunner

Even if the spindle is bone dry it should not cause any squealing as nothing actually runs on the spindle, the grease just makes it easy to remove/fit.

 

Andy.

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  • 2 weeks later...

having taken my rear wheel off for a recent suspension and swinging arm lube one of the bearings would not spin freely.it is possible to flick off the(brown)cover off the bearing and in my case repack the bearing with new grease.it freed up nicely with no `gravelley` noise.i hope i have caught it just in time as there was no up and down left to right movement with the wheel reinstalled.

for anyones information i have used ACF corrosion block grease for the first time as it claims to be waterproof and will not wash out and for high loads ,as in bearings.time will tell.

safe riding 

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jeremyr62
19 minutes ago, t5er said:

for anyones information i have used ACF corrosion block grease for the first time as it claims to be waterproof and will not wash out and for high loads ,as in bearings.time will tell.

safe riding 

 

I used that grease once in the FJR1300 linkage bearings  that is a known trouble spot. It washed out very rapidly and I wouldn't recommend it at all. There are much better waterproof greases out there. I have had great results in the same application with Rocol Sapphire Aqua 2 and the other one that is recommended was a Silkolene PRO grease. Your experience with the ACF might be different though.

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Grumpy old man
9 hours ago, t5er said:

having taken my rear wheel off for a recent suspension and swinging arm lube one of the bearings would not spin freely.it is possible to flick off the(brown)cover off the bearing and in my case repack the bearing with new grease.it freed up nicely with no `gravelley` noise.i hope i have caught it just in time as there was no up and down left to right movement with the wheel reinstalled.

for anyones information i have used ACF corrosion block grease for the first time as it claims to be waterproof and will not wash out and for high loads ,as in bearings.time will tell.

safe riding 

For the price of new bearings think I'd have replaced them:niceone:

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jeremyr62
10 hours ago, t5er said:

oh dear

Yeah, sorry about that.

The Silkolene grease that works well for the FJR is Silkolene Pro RG2 Grease, although I have not actually used that one.

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  • 1 month later...

Returning to my post that re-greasing the rear wheel spindle had cured the squeal (& Outrunner's sage comment that it shouldn't work), I'm disappointed to report that the squeal came back. I then disconnected the bottom of the rear suspension & inspected / re-greased, but again the gain lasted only a few days. Rear brake calipers & sliders next, same result again. It's been a brilliant opportunity to get down and dirty with the bike & increase my skills, but it still squeals! Any other ideas, as I'm beginning to suspect it's just my boots (only joking)?

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if the problem was on my bike the first thing i would be checking is rear wheel alignment(easy), the rear disc might be rubbing on the pads because the disc is not parallel .the issue i had as i mentioned before is the rear wheel bearing being seized thus meaning the splindle is spinning in the inner "race" rather than the bearing itself rotating.this would cause squeeling but would be temporarily cured if/when the spindle is greased.

i am only a home nc keep it on the roader which is why i am always looking on our site for new solutions and ideas but i hope these are helpful suggestions

ride safe

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Graham NZ

If the rear wheel is out of alignment it can cause clicking when the wheel is rotated very slowly and the chain self-adjusts sideways to move onto the sprocket teeth.  Brake pads also can react to bad alignment as Ian said.

Edited by Graham NZ
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trisaki
On 6/17/2020 at 17:07, JamesS said:

Returning to my post that re-greasing the rear wheel spindle had cured the squeal (& Outrunner's sage comment that it shouldn't work), I'm disappointed to report that the squeal came back. I then disconnected the bottom of the rear suspension & inspected / re-greased, but again the gain lasted only a few days. Rear brake calipers & sliders next, same result again. It's been a brilliant opportunity to get down and dirty with the bike & increase my skills, but it still squeals! Any other ideas, as I'm beginning to suspect it's just my boots (only joking)?

Shame you aren't anywhere close to Sussex as I would have a good look over it for you at my wshop near Arundel 

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rjp996

Does it only squeal when the weight of the bike is on the wheel - does it do the same if on the centre stand and the rear wheel rotated..

 

i would just just start to eliminate things. Remove the rear hand break capiler - 2 bolts wheel the bike so see if noise. Remove the rear brake pads and wheel bike again. Slip the chain off the rear sprocket and wheel again. You have then either eliminated some key areas or pin pointed the issue. If you get down to just the wheel and the squeak is still there and noting rubbing (and the wheel is square / aligned ) then potentially look at the rear wheel bearings. They are cheap parts and not to hard to replace, but you may find your answer before you get to the bearing. 

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