Front wheel bearing life
 

Has anyone experienced short life with their '07-newer front wheel bearings going bad quickly? It seems I'm replacing front wheel bearings every couple of months.

I had bearings that seemed bad when they were new but it was the axle which was worn where the bearings run, meaning there was play even when the bearings were new, I guess that would lead to them going bad quickly.

I hope I don't get slapped for posting up something from a different forum, not my intention to promote the other one but its good info and worth posting.
I do it to all my bearings when new.

Greasing Bearings - DIY

Hey Mike have you had you front end apart lately. Maybe pulled your front wheel off to make sure everything is lined up straight? Not any excess pressure on the bearing or forks bent...stuff like that. Make sure you axle slides in and out without force.

I had it apart today. No force required. I'll do it again and really check the bearings. I'll also put a set of calipers on the axle and check for wear.

I tore the front wheel off today and gave it all a look. The axle is fine. The wheel bearing on the right side (opposite the disk) seemed to be the one with play, so I knocked it out. Sure enough, it is bad, but the other side seems to be tight, and free moving. I had a set on the bench from before the Idaho qualifier (I knew the bike had a penchant for eating bearings, so I made everything fresh before that race.) and slipped one in. The front end is fine now, no slop. It seems that I may be failing to put it all back together correctly at times when I change tires (which happens often) because I'll go ride and the front end starts to lose it's precision. I'll stop and check, and sure enough, I need to loosen everything up, align and tighten the front end back up. This routine is likely the cause of my failing wheel bearings.

I rarely replace bearings on any bike, and never fronts on a GG. What I think is the trick is pack the area between the seal and bearing with grease. Every time the wheel is off, I clean this grease (and any dirt that got in) out and repack. Take seconds and seems to work, along with keeping good seals and spacers in the wheel.

Mike, Is this the '01 wheel you converted? Could you have an improper length spacer tube, that causes a preload on the bearings when the axel is tightened?

I helped pit for Mike (Roostafish) at the Idaho City ISDE Qualifier - yes, he has the '01 wheels mounted on his bike.

Jeff

I do have the older wheels on my bike. However the hub is identical through all the years. The tube spacer was swapped out with the '08 wheel, so the fit is just as it was with the '08 wheel.

I followed Husky Dude's link and followed the procedure articulated in it. I also packed the area between the seal and bearing with grease. One thing I noticed was that the seal was pressed in too far last time, so I carefully installed everything this time. My story that I'm sticking to is that I have been trying to do tire swaps for time, and when I install the wheel on the bike I have not taken near the care I should have to align everything, thus prematurely wearing that bearing. It's super simple, but it's a very good idea to check for play or any wierdness before riding the bike.

What...that sucks...I'm on 133 hrs everything still tight except just a tad bit of play in the upper shock bearing.
What bearing are you using?

I'm pretty sure it's my fault. Stock bearings.