Ive replaced the open needle bearing tonight in the eccentric hub. Inserted the first seal, then the bearing. The problem now is that the bearing is all the way home against the inner seal, but the new outer seal covers the circlip groove when installed. Also the needles do not move now the bearing is installed, they have a small amount of free play from side to side but will not spin. If i insert the axle into the hub it spins really nice but I'm worried that the needles arnt rotating and just working like a bush instead of a bearing. The bearing spun before installation and I only used the outer race to drive it home. Should the needles rotate by hand now they are packed with grease or is it normal for them to seem rigid? Any ideas? Haydn
From my experience of just cleaning and greasing these hubs I have found the needles quite hard to turn as they are small (ish) and it's hard to grip them properly to roll and check them. As I wasn't rebuilding these hubs and had only cleaned them I was not overly concerned as there was no play and all was and still is good. If you have put it together correctly and all is smooth I would not necessarily be concerned as the fresh grease might be holding the bearings back a little. If you are that worried clean the odd needle\s a(nd) put a small mark on a few and reassemble and see if they turn, you could use engineers blue to give you an idea of how things are mating up. Better safe than sorry in a case like this if you don't feel wholly comfortable.
Thanks for the reply red. Im pretty sure when i was greasing it up that the needle cage rotated aswell. Ive marked it up, spun the axle in there a few times and nothing is moving. The axle is just moving over the surfaces of the needles. Real strange because I didnt catch the inner race/cage at any point during installation. Maybe should have used a press instead the hammer and socket technique! Strange how there isnt enough room for the end seal either. TBH Im tempted to just buy another hub, and pack with fresh grease.
Hmmm! it does seem as though something is amiss. Might be best to start over again and carefully measure the bearings and compare new with old just to be certain and note if there is any damage to the new ones. Did you get them from a bearing company?
Quick question, are there different versions of the eccentric hub setup? The hub i removed had a circlip securing the open needle bearing and seals. The replacement hub just has a pressed washer of some sort??
