Bearings and painting

[tony477g]

how do you tell if your bearings are ready for the trash? I ride a bmx bike and am going to paint it but when tearing it apart i noticed the bottom bracket when trying to spin the axle(part that holds the cranks) it was quite a bit difficult. Went to the axle on the wheels as well and the same thing happened with the axle bearings. They all are more stop and go rather than a smooth movement. Also if any of you have painted your bike how many coats of primer, paint and clear coat did you use? Did you sand in between? coats and how long did you wait till the next coat?

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Disassemble and clean your bearings, cups and cones...if they are loose pack type. Inspect them carefully. If the are pitted, scored, brinneled or worn into the case, they are trash and in need of replacement. If they look good, re-pack in clean grease, reassemble and adjust. It should be noted that even a good 'looking' bearing may be innacurately manufactured (cheap, low quality) and not yield a good feel when adjusted.

If your bearings are a shielded or sealed cartridge type, you can attempt a re-greasing, but it is usually easier to simply buy new bearings and replace the old ones.

Helpful links:

http://sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/hubs.html

http://sheldonbrown.com/gloss_ca-g.html#cartridge

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=how%20to%20repack%20bicycle%20bearings&source=web&cd=3&sqi=2&ved=0CFQQtwIwAg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DpicMxSwpXH0&ei=z8ryT5mzNsa1rQHnqNGJCQ&usg=AFQjCNFOQw3IG83B18PZyfADtYkNMUx4qg&sig2=Nz1VRm89zeCjaaXGIuIMsw

http://sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/bbadj.html

Painting? Rattle can? Pro gun? I shoot a couple coats of sandable primer and usually two color coats and then clearcoat. Depending on temperature, 24 hours between color coats and I sand the top color coat. It's just paint, so sanding base color coats to remove flaws is no big deal.

 

[tony477g]

Originally Posted by CAMPYBOB .

Disassemble and clean your bearings, cups and cones...if they are loose pack type. Inspect them carefully. If the are pitted, scored, brinneled or worn into the case, they are trash and in need of replacement. If they look good, re-pack in clean grease, reassemble and adjust. It should be noted that even a good 'looking' bearing may be innacurately manufactured (cheap, low quality) and not yield a good feel when adjusted.

If your bearings are a shielded or sealed cartridge type, you can attempt a re-greasing, but it is usually easier to simply buy new bearings and replace the old ones.

Helpful links:

http://sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/hubs.html

http://sheldonbrown.com/gloss_ca-g.html#cartridge

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=how%20to%20repack%20bicycle%20bearings&source=web&cd=3&sqi=2&ved=0CFQQtwIwAg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DpicMxSwpXH0&ei=z8ryT5mzNsa1rQHnqNGJCQ&usg=AFQjCNFOQw3IG83B18PZyfADtYkNMUx4qg&sig2=Nz1VRm89zeCjaaXGIuIMsw

http://sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/bbadj.html

Painting? Rattle can? Pro gun? I shoot a couple coats of sandable primer and usually two color coats and then clearcoat. Depending on temperature, 24 hours between color coats and I sand the top color coat. It's just paint, so sanding base color coats to remove flaws is no big deal.


Thank you Bob! Yes they are sealed, they are also 3 piece cranks, we tried just adding a bit of grease to the axle on the bottom bracket and putting it back in plus adding some wd40, I seriously think it made it worse. as for the hub's i still havent disassembled the hubs to check the inside so i may try to later today, they should be sealed as well just like the bottom bracket as well. Rattle can, I plan on using about a 100 grit sand paper and get off as much as i can then sand blast to to make sure i get everything off, not sure if this is a good idea or not though? So just sand between color coats.

 

[tony477g]

Thank you bob they are sealed, I might just chuck em just to make things easier. I tried adding grease to the spindle and wd40 to the bearings, but they feel even harder now. Quick question, is the spindle directional? Rattle can, yes im going to use 100 grit paper and after sand blast to make sure everythings off then 2 coats of primer, 2 coats of color and 1 coat of clear coat wiith intervals of 24 hours in between each coat?

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Quick question, is the spindle directional?

Rotation? No. Left to right? Yes.

yes im going to use 100 grit paper and after sand blast

After a sand or glass bead blast, you should not need anything that course. Very little to no sanding should be necessary after blasting.

 

[tony477g]

so the spindle has to go in the way it came out

 

[tony477g]

wait figured it out, sprocket side has a little washer it sits on, my mistake, i was scared for a little bit