Hey all, thought this might be on interest to some so would offer up my tips when doing this if you wanted to.
While its not a hard job, i do not take any responsability if you mess up! So make sure your able to take these types of tasks on as if you are not you can take those $150 hub units and ruin them in seconds!
So you might be wondering why! Why is this guy not buying new hubs and repacking grease when they not ment to be!!!... Well let me explain more.
These are not old hubs at all, maybe a few years and they are evo 5 units. I know our wheel bearings struggle with high loads and road racing so while my car is down for some upgrades and maintenance i thought now was the perfect time to do some work thats not seen normally unless shown so here we are todate!
As mentioned above, road racing take a huge toll on the wheel bearings and some have gone through a set each year or more (also depends on brand or oem) some opt for ceramics (very costly) we dont have an off the shelf part thats better then oem for anything but oem usage so here i am trying to make better the oem units (better is the wrong word really as im just trying to help them along much better),
Firstly lets talk about the oem bearings and its flaws!
1* it has a very narrow load rating, what this means is the distance between the 2 races are close together so they cannot handle high amounts of loads.
2* the greae they use is not very high temp rated and can dry up rather fast.
3* they dont grease them enough!
Good points of the oem housings.
1* they use a good size ball bearing
2* they are at least a decent angular contact bearing design (still could be better)
3* the polyamide cage they use is very good.
So the main point in doing this is simple really! Strength... This new grease has a much higher load rating and is able to withstand much higher temps and will not break down like the oem grease will, not only with hest but over time!
THE JOB AT HAND.
Onto the details about the job at hand. Some tools you wont have or need but it helps alot and it is a very messy job! Lots or rags and towels and cleaning solution needed!!!
Items i used were,
* Bench press
* Flypress
* Screw drivers
* Weighing scales
* Rags/towels
* Panel wipe/ de greaser
* 2 or 3 plastic tubs
* Tooth brush
* Hot soapy water
* High spec grease for wheel bearings (many available) I used Millers Deltaplex 2EP
Possibly some other bits i am forgetting and will adjust if i remember.
So before i began i took a square rule and measured the surface flange to the hub flange as this is what i used ehen resetting it back again as a guidance (this is not critical as it will self adjust when pre loading it once the axle nut is done uo to spec! But its another form of checking along the way)
Use a bench press to press the hub out the bottom you will either struggle or it pops out nicely. Dont worry about the crack as thats normal and its only the polyamide cage un clicking from the hub race
Once thats off press the other side out so you have all the hub apart.
This step is a nice one to do and is often over looked or not even thought off! The weighing scales i listed above will be used here because before you remove any grease you want to know how much it weighs so weight the hub housing and rear race only! NOT the hub flange. Once done note this down as you need this info later on!
The next stage is to remove the seal in the hub housing itself, you will need to get a big headed flat screw driver and press it against the ball and gently pry it up! Do this in a few locations to help break the seal, if its old and rusty its gonna fight more then a new hub. (Also note that pressing against the balls with your other thumb helps the cage from pulling away and keeping full force on the balls and is also stronger too) also bare in mind this will slightly deform the piece but not alot and what does happen can be hend bend back or use some flat tipped pliers to take some of the kinks out.
Once both sides are out then pull the cages and balls out and sit them apart. Becareful from now on as these cages need to be looked after or you can very rapidly ruin the whole unit and need to buy another!
Pop the balls out of the back of the cage and place into a pot with de greaser and leave to soak, same goes for the cages but mix with water, while they soak for a bit clean and de grease the hub races off all surfaces. Once done go back to the balls and wioe them all clean and place on a towel in another tub to dry off.
The cages have now loosened up the grease and this is where the tooth brush comes in handy to get into the gaps your fingers cannot! BE CAREFUL AS THE CAGE HAS VERY SHARP EDGES AND NEEDS TO STAY IN TACT!!
Once all done you will end up with some nice clean parts like this, dont worry if you have some small traces of grease left because its still grease but the more you can get out the better.
Once all dry place the balls in the cage from the back and after that re weigh all the original weighed items and now take note because this new weight will be the weight loss of grease! I did mine in grams as most do for grease so for me i was around the 11grams area.
I put everything back together in the hub and then i weighed out some grease to acount for the loss but here is where i added more because I wanted to add an extra few grams of grease because the factory does not use alot and once its had a few heat cycles it thins out anyway so it just adds a bit more protection for your ball bearings and cage.
I then reweighed it once the grease was smudged in to confirm the new weight plus my added grams (i actually got a tad more then i aimed for but not by alot but its ok)
Once you done that install the housing seals you pryed out earlier onto the dust shields first otherwise you will not seal them correctly or split the runner flap seal. Then install the back race first and press on flat till it lightly clicks on (be very careful doing this stage)
Then grab the main body and place in the hub flange and press on flat slowly!!! Do not over press it as you will either crack the cage or snap its locating ring!!! Once thats done check its measurement if you took it st the start and confirm your bsck to where you started!
And there you have it. A fully working higher temp and load rating wheel bearing for auto X / circuit racing.
It will feel stiff but it will loosen up once you drive on it and it thins out, brand new bearings always feel stiff when new and un-used.
Thanks for reading and hope this can help some of you out.
Bobby
While its not a hard job, i do not take any responsability if you mess up! So make sure your able to take these types of tasks on as if you are not you can take those $150 hub units and ruin them in seconds!
So you might be wondering why! Why is this guy not buying new hubs and repacking grease when they not ment to be!!!... Well let me explain more.
These are not old hubs at all, maybe a few years and they are evo 5 units. I know our wheel bearings struggle with high loads and road racing so while my car is down for some upgrades and maintenance i thought now was the perfect time to do some work thats not seen normally unless shown so here we are todate!
As mentioned above, road racing take a huge toll on the wheel bearings and some have gone through a set each year or more (also depends on brand or oem) some opt for ceramics (very costly) we dont have an off the shelf part thats better then oem for anything but oem usage so here i am trying to make better the oem units (better is the wrong word really as im just trying to help them along much better),
Firstly lets talk about the oem bearings and its flaws!
1* it has a very narrow load rating, what this means is the distance between the 2 races are close together so they cannot handle high amounts of loads.
2* the greae they use is not very high temp rated and can dry up rather fast.
3* they dont grease them enough!
Good points of the oem housings.
1* they use a good size ball bearing
2* they are at least a decent angular contact bearing design (still could be better)
3* the polyamide cage they use is very good.
So the main point in doing this is simple really! Strength... This new grease has a much higher load rating and is able to withstand much higher temps and will not break down like the oem grease will, not only with hest but over time!
THE JOB AT HAND.
Onto the details about the job at hand. Some tools you wont have or need but it helps alot and it is a very messy job! Lots or rags and towels and cleaning solution needed!!!
Items i used were,
* Bench press
* Flypress
* Screw drivers
* Weighing scales
* Rags/towels
* Panel wipe/ de greaser
* 2 or 3 plastic tubs
* Tooth brush
* Hot soapy water
* High spec grease for wheel bearings (many available) I used Millers Deltaplex 2EP
Possibly some other bits i am forgetting and will adjust if i remember.
So before i began i took a square rule and measured the surface flange to the hub flange as this is what i used ehen resetting it back again as a guidance (this is not critical as it will self adjust when pre loading it once the axle nut is done uo to spec! But its another form of checking along the way)
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Use a bench press to press the hub out the bottom you will either struggle or it pops out nicely. Dont worry about the crack as thats normal and its only the polyamide cage un clicking from the hub race
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Once thats off press the other side out so you have all the hub apart.
This step is a nice one to do and is often over looked or not even thought off! The weighing scales i listed above will be used here because before you remove any grease you want to know how much it weighs so weight the hub housing and rear race only! NOT the hub flange. Once done note this down as you need this info later on!
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
The next stage is to remove the seal in the hub housing itself, you will need to get a big headed flat screw driver and press it against the ball and gently pry it up! Do this in a few locations to help break the seal, if its old and rusty its gonna fight more then a new hub. (Also note that pressing against the balls with your other thumb helps the cage from pulling away and keeping full force on the balls and is also stronger too) also bare in mind this will slightly deform the piece but not alot and what does happen can be hend bend back or use some flat tipped pliers to take some of the kinks out.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Once both sides are out then pull the cages and balls out and sit them apart. Becareful from now on as these cages need to be looked after or you can very rapidly ruin the whole unit and need to buy another!
Pop the balls out of the back of the cage and place into a pot with de greaser and leave to soak, same goes for the cages but mix with water, while they soak for a bit clean and de grease the hub races off all surfaces. Once done go back to the balls and wioe them all clean and place on a towel in another tub to dry off.
The cages have now loosened up the grease and this is where the tooth brush comes in handy to get into the gaps your fingers cannot! BE CAREFUL AS THE CAGE HAS VERY SHARP EDGES AND NEEDS TO STAY IN TACT!!
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Once all done you will end up with some nice clean parts like this, dont worry if you have some small traces of grease left because its still grease but the more you can get out the better.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Once all dry place the balls in the cage from the back and after that re weigh all the original weighed items and now take note because this new weight will be the weight loss of grease! I did mine in grams as most do for grease so for me i was around the 11grams area.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
I put everything back together in the hub and then i weighed out some grease to acount for the loss but here is where i added more because I wanted to add an extra few grams of grease because the factory does not use alot and once its had a few heat cycles it thins out anyway so it just adds a bit more protection for your ball bearings and cage.
I then reweighed it once the grease was smudged in to confirm the new weight plus my added grams (i actually got a tad more then i aimed for but not by alot but its ok)
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Once you done that install the housing seals you pryed out earlier onto the dust shields first otherwise you will not seal them correctly or split the runner flap seal. Then install the back race first and press on flat till it lightly clicks on (be very careful doing this stage)
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Then grab the main body and place in the hub flange and press on flat slowly!!! Do not over press it as you will either crack the cage or snap its locating ring!!! Once thats done check its measurement if you took it st the start and confirm your bsck to where you started!
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
And there you have it. A fully working higher temp and load rating wheel bearing for auto X / circuit racing.
It will feel stiff but it will loosen up once you drive on it and it thins out, brand new bearings always feel stiff when new and un-used.
Thanks for reading and hope this can help some of you out.
Bobby
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