All Balls Racing tapered bearing kit - faulty lower race?

[xsdrew]

Hey guys,

I was just installing my new All Balls Racing steering bearing kit... I was using a threaded rod with an old bearing race to press the races in place.

Everything was going great, the top bearing seated perfect and the lower bearing was about 75% seated when I heard a crack. I back off the threaded rod and found that the lower bearing race actually cracked! I'm not sure what happened. It seemed to have been going well until that point.

I emailed them, we'll see what comes out of it.

Anyone else run into a similar problem?

 

[rusty rocket]

Just installed mine a few weeks ago. I just used a small drift and circled the race until it was seated with no problems

 

[fredintoon]

Hi xsdrew,
bearing races are, oddly, quite fragile.
I'm amazed that so many of them survive our usual amateur installation methods.
My install trick is to put the race in the deepfreeze overnight to shrink it, use a hot air gun on the housing to expand it and then quickly drop the race in.
Be sure it's the right race the right way up, they're a swine to remove.

 

[xsdrew]

I didn't put them in the freezer. I know it is commonly recommended to do it that way, but the instructions on their website didn't say anything so I figured it was ok to do it at room temperature. I'll put the next one in the freezer for sure.

As an update, All Balls Racing got back to me this morning and they are going to ship me a replacement part! Many thanks to All Balls for actually backing up their product.

 

[gggGary]

It "can be done" without the heat/cool but it's not so easy. I found that just heating the headstock with a heat gun helps a lot. (wear gloves)

 

[xsdrew]

It "can be done" without the heat/cool but it's not so easy. I found that just heating the headstock with a heat gun helps a lot. (wear gloves)

When you heat up the headstock do you use a threaded rod or do you tap in the race with a drift?

 

[gggGary]

I keep trying different methods, even with the threaded rod you gotta watch that the bearing doesn't get crooked in the hole. Which is probably what broke the first one.

 

[wannabridin]

harbor freight sells a nice race driver kit that works very well. I've used the freeze/heat method for press-fit bearings with great success.

freeze the race, heat headstock and then use the driver if it doesn't drop in. Also make sure the headstock is very clean before putting it in there. I accidentally did one with a little burr from removal, and galled everything up on install. was not fun to fix.

HF driver: http://www.harborfreight.com/10-piece-bearing-race-and-seal-driver-set-95853.html

 

[gggGary]

Or on flea-bay to your door for $34.00 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bearing-Race-and-Seal-Driver-Set-10-PC-/251970372297?hash=item3aaa9ac2c9&item=251970372297&vxp=mtr

Trips to Harbor fright are just too dangerous.

 

[wannabridin]

hahaha, that's awesome Gary! good e-bay find too.

 

[RFeng]

I think I've seen many of those items being used by Devil's Lake State Park campers, Gary...

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

Aaahhhahaha! That's hilarious!

I could use that 'Moron Lamp'...