Gotta vent
Road Warrior
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 1,593
Likes: 11
From: Mass/NH
Glad we still have some rockers around...lol.
Are you putting the same oem bearings back in? I had two wheel bearing failures on my rocker. The first at six k, the second seven k later. Switched both my wheel bearings to aftermarket timken or all *****. Not worth the risk.
It might not be you...try higher quality bearings first...
Good luck.
Are you putting the same oem bearings back in? I had two wheel bearing failures on my rocker. The first at six k, the second seven k later. Switched both my wheel bearings to aftermarket timken or all *****. Not worth the risk.
It might not be you...try higher quality bearings first...
Good luck.
Thread Starter
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Elite HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 4,762
Likes: 12
From: north jersey
Glad we still have some rockers around...lol.
Are you putting the same oem bearings back in? I had two wheel bearing failures on my rocker. The first at six k, the second seven k later. Switched both my wheel bearings to aftermarket timken or all *****. Not worth the risk.
It might not be you...try higher quality bearings first...
Good luck.
Are you putting the same oem bearings back in? I had two wheel bearing failures on my rocker. The first at six k, the second seven k later. Switched both my wheel bearings to aftermarket timken or all *****. Not worth the risk.
It might not be you...try higher quality bearings first...
Good luck.
I've heard good things about timken bearings. I'm gonna look into them. You wouldn't happen to know what size bearings our sleds run do ya? For some reason I wanna say 25mm.
Thread Starter
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Elite HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 4,762
Likes: 12
From: north jersey
And also can someone educate me on two things.
why cranking down on the rear axle bolt just as hard doesn't cause those bearings in the rear wheel to fail?
And does timken make sealed bearings? Don't wanna have to hassle with greasing open bearings every 10,000 miles.
why cranking down on the rear axle bolt just as hard doesn't cause those bearings in the rear wheel to fail?
And does timken make sealed bearings? Don't wanna have to hassle with greasing open bearings every 10,000 miles.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 17,548
Likes: 7,177
From: Oxford, Nc
A little background might help here. '00 to '07 bikes ran the 21 mm wide double row sealed bearings that most consider bulletproof. I swapped mine out at 100,000 miles and they were still fine.
'08 and up, Harley went cheap (yet again,) and installed single row 15 mm wide sealed bearings that failed with frightening regularity. These are the units installed on the 25 mm axle. The early units apparently were lacking in sufficient grease and since then they still need to be swapped out several times over the life of the bike.
I doubt that your lack of a torque wrench was the cause if the failure. (Be careful with water when you wash the wheels however.)
'08 and up, Harley went cheap (yet again,) and installed single row 15 mm wide sealed bearings that failed with frightening regularity. These are the units installed on the 25 mm axle. The early units apparently were lacking in sufficient grease and since then they still need to be swapped out several times over the life of the bike.
I doubt that your lack of a torque wrench was the cause if the failure. (Be careful with water when you wash the wheels however.)
Tourer
Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 288
Likes: 3
From: UK
I had an issue with the Buell where the wheel bearings failed. Turned out the bearing spacer tube had been crushed, probably due to overtightening at some stage. After that any replacement bearing would fail prematurley. To check you need to measure the distances between the bearing faces on the wheel to make sure its less than the spacer tube
Thread Starter
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Elite HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 4,762
Likes: 12
From: north jersey
A little background might help here. '00 to '07 bikes ran the 21 mm wide double row sealed bearings that most consider bulletproof. I swapped mine out at 100,000 miles and they were still fine.
'08 and up, Harley went cheap (yet again,) and installed single row 15 mm wide sealed bearings that failed with frightening regularity. These are the units installed on the 25 mm axle. The early units apparently were lacking in sufficient grease and since then they still need to be swapped out several times over the life of the bike.
I doubt that your lack of a torque wrench was the cause if the failure. (Be careful with water when you wash the wheels however.)
'08 and up, Harley went cheap (yet again,) and installed single row 15 mm wide sealed bearings that failed with frightening regularity. These are the units installed on the 25 mm axle. The early units apparently were lacking in sufficient grease and since then they still need to be swapped out several times over the life of the bike.
I doubt that your lack of a torque wrench was the cause if the failure. (Be careful with water when you wash the wheels however.)
Anyone of you who have timken bearings have a link to where you purchased them?
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Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 7,882
Likes: 5
From: So California
It shouldn't really matter how much torque you put on the axle. There is an inner spacer that fits between the bearings inner races inside the hub. When the axle nut tightens it squeezes the forks, outer spacers, inner bearing races and inner spacer together. When the bearings are installed the inner spacer should be snug between the bearings, with no movement. If the inner spacer can be moved around then you will be side loading the bearings when you tighten the axle. Which will cause premature bearing failure and if bad enough, binding.