| Author | Message | ||
     Imotopilot |
Just replaced the rear wheel bearings. I'm a little leary. The manual says to tighten to 23-27 ftlbs, back off 2 full turns then button her up to 48-52 ftlbs? | ||
| Griffmeister |
That's right. If everything went back in correct order and the spacer is still good you'll notice that one bearing "floats" in the wheel rather than bottoming out. Initial torque aligns the bearings and spacer then you back it off so you can bring it up to full torque from zero. Don't forget the pinch bolts. | ||
| Panhead_dan |
Correct. | ||
| Imotopilot |
Thanks everyone. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Some guys have been using a lower final torque (maybe ~35-40 ft-lbs) based on the theory that the bearing failures on the two bearing wheels are caused by the recommended torque being too high, resulting in the spacer being overly compressed, resulting in the bearings being side-loaded. The idea is that the lower torque is adequate to hold everything in place while less likely to lead to bearing failure. I don't know if there is any long-term data to confirm this. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Water seems to be the most common factor in rear bearing failures. Certainly, they will fail if you mash the crap out of them too. | ||
| Ourdee |
I know that my final torque is closer to 40 ft-lbs ever since the time I lost both rear bearings and I haven't lost another set. Yes, the bad ones were water damaged. |
