repacking bearings

[hermit]

i missed my parts can and dropped my bearings in the dirt. so i need to clean them and repack them. but ya I dont know how to clean them, my father suggested gasoline or wd-40 and then repack with axel grease, i thought id come here for an opinion before I start.

thanks in advance
hermit

[packrat427]

I knew I should have done a small video , when I repacked mine Tuesday .

Yes you can get a small can or bowl , put some gas in it , slosh it around , maybe use a small brush to scrub it , breaking down all the dirty grease .

Then take a rag or paper towels and dry them off , holding the inner part of the bearing and spinning the outer as you dry it .. you can use a air hose to blow them dry , just DO NOT blow the bearing where it will spin the outer .

You can buy a bearing packer at a part supply , it makes it real easy .
Or you can just buy a small tub of bearing grease and pack it from the sides until the entire bearing is full of grease, using a scraping motion , with the grease in your palm .

Hope this helps a bit .

[elcamino1]

Use grease made for repacking bearings,not heavy axel grease.
Go to parts store and tell them what you are trying to do.

[F3BZ]

drop the cleaned bearing and spoon a big glob of whatever grease you're using into a small plastic bag. seal the bag and squeeze and knead it which forces the grease into the bearing cavities

[hermit]

i found a bearing packer in the garage but it was empty, so im gonna do it by hand with the small pastic sealed bag and this tub of bearing grease. thanks very much

[Tom]

Do not use gas to clean your bearing. Use a rag. Gas leaves a residue that breaks down the new grease and ruins your bearing. Then stick the bearing on your thumb big side up and force grease into the bearing until it comes out the small side all around. Use your other hand and four flat fingers stroking against the top of the bearing again and again, pull down pretty hard with the four fingers full of grease again and again, about a hundred times all around. Hold on to the small inside and turn it back and forth once and awhile while your doing

[packrat427]

As long as you wipe it dry , it would be OK .
You could use a naptha solvent , like dealerships use , to flush out all the fine debris that is trapped in the grease.

I have used gas to clean bearings for 30 years and never had a bearing failure .

[Safety Guy]

I wipe off the old bearings and then soak it in brake cleaner while spraying it with the same.

Then if it's good, I repack it. I also put grease onto the spindle and inside the brake drum hub area.

That idea of using a baggie sounds cool. Keeps your fingers from getting all greasy!!

Karl

[Festy46]

I use vinyl (surgical type) gloves. They are like the latex gloves a doctor uses only they're vinyl. Any Wal-Mart or K-Mart should have them in their health department. You get about 25 pair for something like $7.00 or $8.00. They work great for packing bearings and anytime you are working on those parts that have that old black oil/grease that you can never get washed off your hands.

[Dave G]

I've got a steel 5 gallon paint can with a hardware cloth basket in it about 1/2 way up from the bottom. It's filled with about 4 gallons of paint thinner. I've been cleaning parts in it for years with the same solvent - all the crud sinks to the bottom. So I can take things like bearings and completely submerge them, spin them around, work them with a brush, etc. Really handy.

[dahodges]

Man thats a heck of a fire hazard. Get rid of the paint thinner and replace it with diesel.

[warlocke]

Man thats a heck of a fire hazard. Get rid of the paint thinner and replace it with diesel.

disel is just as bad