Rear wheel bearing replacement.

Energy One
cgaroutte1201

cgaroutte1201

Member
Does anyone have any idea about what kind of rims these might be, gonna look for some hubs online.

There's no identifier mark on it that I can see. However I did see something when I had my tires put on, on the inside of the rim. I'll have to go through pictures on my laptop to find them, hopefully I didn't delete it.
 

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cgaroutte1201

cgaroutte1201

Member
Well I'm up shit creek without a paddle. Hub has a crack in it. Guess I'll be buying some new ones. Just gotta figure out what kinda wheels these are to get the hubs.

My buddy who's a machinist can make some he said but they'll be polished aluminum and not chrome..guess I could always have them chromed.

I'm surprised it didn't come apart on me going down the road. Gotta thank the Big Dog upstairs for that...
 

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mittens

mittens

Well-Known Member
Those are PM wheels I have them on my Chopper. They are called VADER wheels. It was kinda of a more rare wheel option back then vs the mad clown or others. They take Normal Harley bearings. The hubs & PM as well I think.

EDIT the front Vader wheel takes a Harley bearing old school style, race separate from inner. The rear Vader took 3 sealed bearings pressed into hub. I just repleaced them. (I have newer style Big Dog sealed front bearings & seals sitting in counter cause ordered wrong At first.
 
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cgaroutte1201

cgaroutte1201

Member
mittens said:
You sure thats a crack, not a scratch? pretty stout part to crack? My Vader wheels are all polished not chrome.
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Yeah I think so, you can feel a hump on that crack. Also on that same spot all the way around you can see the chrome appearing to stress fracture for a lack of better words.

Can you see the striations where it seems to be twisting the whole thing from under load or torque I should say. Those two lines are on the same track as the "crack" just on the other side.

I kept thinking it was just the chrome but my Dad and my buddy said it looked like it cracked under pressure.. I'd hate to put it all back together and it comes apart on me going down the road..
 

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cgaroutte1201

cgaroutte1201

Member
And something in my gut tells me it's a crack because of how bad the ball bearings did a number on the inside walls of my hub once they became loose of the bearing itself.

The only thing that was left from the bearings was the ball bearings and the outer race. The balls got lodged between the squish tube and the inner wall of the hub and just dug grooves inside it, it wasn't pretty..

For my own sanity and safety I just wanna get new hubs.
 
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Mickmorris

Mickmorris

Well Known Member
Supporting Member
cgaroutte1201 said:
And something in my gut tells me it's a crack because of how bad the ball bearings did a number on the inside walls of my hub once they became loose of the bearing itself.

The only thing that was left from the bearings was the ball bearings and the outer race. The balls got lodged between the squish tube and the inner wall of the hub and just dig grooves inside is, it wasn't pretty..

For my own sanity and safety I just wanna get new hubs.
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Good catch! Yeah you can definitely see those stress cracks in the photo. Good call on getting new ones. That would be catastrophic failure at 70mph. I’m pretty sure Mittens is correct about the Harley hubs. Harley has a 10 spoke rim that looks nearly identical to yours. Keep us updated on your progress!
:cheers:
 
Olde Man

Olde Man

Active Member
Most rear bearing failures are from having a rear spacer that is too long. After you press the bearings in assemble one side completely with the correct torque. Assemble the wheel and other hub with the spacer in place> you can side the axel in place to keep it all together. It you can spin the unbolted hub with a space between the hub and rim the spacer is too long. If so you can cut some paper spacers and place the in 4 or 5 places between the hub and rim. The paper is usually about .005 thick as a reference. I did mine after two set of bearings and found about .024 excess. If you tighten the hubs with more than a couple of thousands pressure you will ruin the bearing before you even ride it. Carefully remove material from the spacer if needed. I wrote a lot about this in the day. BTW I do not think you can press or pound the bearings into the hubs by applying pressure to the inner race of the bearing. Use a socket that will contact the outer race and all thread. Applu pressure with the all thread and then tap the socket and the bearing will slide into place.
 
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