Wheel bearing replacement

[bchatt]

I have just replaced all my wheel bearings and seals. Approx. 4000km. 2 of them needed replacement due to water ingress, the others felt OK but I replaced them anyway. I used SFK bearings and seals sourced at trade prices direct from SFK New Zealand head office. This worked out to be about twice the price of the "All Balls" kits which I could have bought on line. I hope it was worth the extra dollars. I must admit I was a bit suprised. The 2 front bearings were $NZ 35 each due to being "narrow", according to SKF.

As for the infamous spacer between the 2 sprocket side bearings.... I found mine to have the same dimension step on both sides, so it could fit either way. It is simply a 2mm spacer that keeps the 2 dissimilar sized inner races apart i.e squeezed together when the axle is tightened. Wear is evident on both sides of this spacer - seems like a bit of poor engineering design, and then to make the thing out of aluminium? ?