I just rebuilt an Earthboard...new stainless bearings, 3" slicks...first time out, it rolled into the water and submerged. Now I fear I'm gonna really shorten the life of the bearings. I removed the wheels for a good fresh water flush and sprayed them with Tri-Flow, but I still hear some grit. What should I do?

That grit is likely either salt, sand or rust (though maybe not rust if they are stainless). When you wash your bearings you should not blast the water at them. I use a pump sprayer on a mist setting just to get the grime off but you don't want to blast water into them.

I'd keep riding them as is. As bearings age or come in contact with salt and sand you will hear (or feel) the result of that. As long as they still spin rather well don't worry too much about the sound. If they are real loud sounding though or you can feel crap in there as you spin the wheel, I'd repack them (though I don't know if you can repack a stainless bearing - assuming you are talking stainless shields and not rubber shields).

I just repacked a set earlier this month and that has put a lot more life and speed into older, gritty bearings.

wd 40 before after every run the best you can do

2-4 months on a set with spot changes here and there(roughly about 100-120 hours of riding beach environment) if you don't get them wet easily twice that.

basically disposable

VBX bearing online $14 +ship for 10

if you plan on riding alot get use to it

I'm starting to wonder what the rated speed of these bearings are ?

I have pretty much the same on my Coyotes. Between the heat of desert + the speeds ( hopefully ) obtained . I think it's time I got to understand the limitations on paper.

Does anyone know what top seeds they are rated for? I'm guessing it would end up being in rpm.? Kind of tough to convert to mph ? Still it would be nice to know in rpm..

I have a feeling I'm going to have to just go faster being more and more prepared for breakdowns ?

I have forgotten to wash off my bearigs after salt water runs. The next day I thought I seized them all up but a few spins and they loosened right up. Spinning free but maybe a bit more noisy.

I find its best to avoid water as best you can - even rinsing with clean water will allow some water to seep into the bearing which can dilute the grease and cause rust and sediment to build.

Nothing eats away grease like WD-40. If you begin to use it you should use it whenever riding as it will flush the grease right out of your bearings leaving mostly only the WD-40 as the primary lubricant and that disipates fast.

Replacing or repacking bearings is just part of the sport and luckily neither option is overly difficult or expensive.

I've gone thru 3-4 sets of the $14 sets a year, but these are the $50 stainless and they don't look repackable..they have stainless, not rubber seals. What about tri-flo? It has worked on my bike well.

dumb question??? anyone repack stainless bearings? can't sleep thinking about grit...board slid in ocean 4 days ago...bearings have steel not rubber shields...

How do I repack?

i used to rework bearing for speed skating and you just loose perfromance not worth it.

but i keep about 1/2 the old set for ATB that aren't too bad and repack and put back into rotation...and always have back up

i think the beach environment esp. if your ocassionally hitting some damp spots, is tough to keep
up with. the ultra fine sand here instantly enters the bearing and grease is it's new best friend

You could try using one of these without removing the shields. Stainless bearings usually come either way, with rubber dust seals or stainless shields. The stainless shields offer less protection from the environment.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnu...

Try washing them out with solvent, blow them dry with air, then repack with Slick 50 synthetic grease (water repellent) then add a few drops of Z-Max, put the plastic/rubber seals on and don't look back. It works on my buggys.

What about bearing cleaners? Or just use a can of carb cleaner?? Surely I don't have to see new $50 bearings wasted??? I'm asking for help....

Is it really a big deal to have your inside shields compromised? Does beach stuff find its way inside the wheel cavity? If not so much then you could remove the easier to remove shield, wash it out with paint thinner (or any other readily available petroleum product), blow dry with compressed air and then just pack it with grease. Or you could make it less likely to attract dirt and use one of the non-grease bike lubes like white lightning. If I was backed into a corner like this, this would be what I would do. Salt shouldn't bother your stainless bearings but the slightest bit of grit is the beginning of the end.

Has anyone tried to find a ceramic solution that is close to affordable? They would just crush the bits of sand into powder. Salt? What salt?

Quote:

Has anyone tried to find a ceramic solution that is close to affordable? They would just crush the bits of sand into powder. Salt? What salt?

Most of the ceramic solutions I have found set new heights for "spendy." On the flipside, they shed heat really well, tend have higher levels of uniformity wrt to bearing size/shape, and in some cases employ secondary lubrication.

The pseudo-annoying thing is that these solutions are more readily available for inline skates and street-based skateboards (8mm vs 12mm).

My non-grease based lube of choice is Krytech..... makes the bearings on inline skates scary fast with wicked long spin down times.

It's a lot like when you used to fly down playground slides on wax paper. :wee:

ATB,
Sam

I'd just keep spinning the wheels and see if it gets better. How aggressive a spray down did you give them? If you can't get the shields off than there is nothing you can do and I WOULD NOT flush with any solvent if you can't get the shields off to repack or you will be buying new hubs when the bearings seize and melt or crack your hub.

If I were you and had a record of trashing bearings like you have in the past year, I'd just get a grease gun and repack some of the older bearings and don't worry about it. Not sure how many times you can repack them before the shields no longer hold well but at least twice and probably more if you are careful.

Now I have enough answers to be really confused...Thanks for all the suggestions! I'm attaching a pic(if I can). I think I made a $50 mistake - should have stuck with $14 sets from VBX. The local bike shop said the steel shields are not designed to be removed, but it seems the inexpensive ones with the black dust shields you can, and thus clean and repack.

Pic...

pic.

I can't fix the bearings and I can't post a damn pic. I love the wind and I hate this computer stuff.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/mNJsSXHLImFVyoBcFJKZnw?...

Here is a link to a pic of the damn bearing. Thank you fellas...

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/FZyrbiwxIfCqgGSRopoaNg?...

Here is a sharper image, use the magnification

Broc is right. Don't use solvent or wd40 if you can't get in to replace the lube. You are better off just letting things take its course and learn from it.

ceramic super nice for the street stuff last about 3000miles

steel for the inline about 500 miles no lube no maintenance then you get break down (noise) so rework will not bring back street performance. lube of any kind will extend usefullness but time and pressure will win every time

water in the equation = it is over

SS bearings a little more but not worth it for dirt. esp. the fine sands like ST.Simons

on shallow hubs exposure is frank and stuff getting in is order of the day

keep them dry and leave them alone will last the longest

if they get dunked or a good splash spray lube after each session

and keep moving

Quote:

Originally posted by PHREERIDER ceramic super nice for the street stuff last about 3000miles steel for the inline about 500 miles no lube no maintenance then you get break down (noise) so rework will not bring back street performance. lube of any kind will extend usefullness but time and pressure will win every time water in the equation = it is over SS bearings a little more but not worth it for dirt. esp. the fine sands like ST.Simons on shallow hubs exposure is frank and stuff getting in is order of the day keep them dry and leave them alone will last the longest if they get dunked or a good splash spray lube after each session and keep moving

From one who knows. Phree really uses his equipment.