45 replies to this topic

[Ken SM94]

[quote name='rob20rx7' timestamp='1304699755' post='7069']
Did my hubs last night! +1 on those intructions. Real easy and went smooth. went ahead and purchased 2 pairs of seals from Dave. I should have these puppies back on the car by Tuesday.

Rob20rx7, be sure to keep those ball bearings in the correct order!

[dmathias]

+1 on Keith's way.

My take on rear bearings - they are a replacement item - not a repack item.

[Qik Nip]

I'm with Denny. I start out with two fresh CV2 lubed sets and run them till they show signs of failure. Then in the dumpster the offending one goes and I put on a spare. Typically, I replace two during a 8-10 race weekend season.
Rick

[rob20rx7]

I just got the the front hub seals in from Dave. Look just like OEM. this is perfect!

[FTodaro]

I just got the the front hub seals in from Dave. Look just like OEM. this is perfect!

I was able to re use my seals the looked pretty good, I assume you can re use them a time or two?

[Keith Novak]

I was able to re use my seals the looked pretty good, I assume you can re use them a time or two?

Sure provided you don't mangle them too badly removing them. People reuse them many times over.

[Juan Pineda]

I'm a first time repacker. If I understand it right, I think I have older hubs with a different seal arrangement. Are spare seals available for those?

-Juan

[ChrisA]

I was able to re use my seals the looked pretty good, I assume you can re use them a time or two?

Frank, I went to Lowe's and bought a cheap large flat tip screw driver; then used a fine tooth hand file to remove the corners and make any edge smooth. This worked well for tapping out the seal without as much fear of cutting the seal.

[schmoo]

There is an easier way I picked up working as a bicycle mechanic many moons ago in a shop with a solvent tank and compressed air after repacking bearings the hard way...

Leave the bearings in the retainer. Use solvent, rubber gloves, and a bristle brush to get the heavy stuff out. Use safety glasses and compressed air to blow the other crap out. Lather, rinse, repeat. When you're pretty sure the only thing you're blowing out is clean solvent, hit the next hub. When you're done with the last hub, the solvent will have evaporated in the first hub...add grease. Once you've greased the first hub, the solvent will have evaporated in the 2nd hub.

You'll never break a bearing retainer that way. It's quicker, and less frustrating. I could probably repack a set in the time you'd curse trying to get the bearings out of one hub.

I've cooked a couple of hubs on my street/track/autox car, hence my reading here today, and I had the same reaction when I saw the how-to... why not leave the bearings in place. I guess that makes sense as I've also logged hours as an all-knowing bike shop employee.

If starting fresh, am I better off to get a NAPA (SKF brand) hub and repack it before install, or should I start with an OE Mazda part?

[Keith Novak]

I can't speak to specific brands of replacement hubs but you definately can't go wrong with geniune OEM. Sometimes replacement parts work just fine. Sometimes they don't. The times they don't you'll wish your foot pointed backwards so it would be easier to kick yourself in the ass. For something as important as a hub, unless I was very confident in the track record of the replacement part in racing use, I wouldn't roll the dice and find out if saving a couple bucks was worth it or not.

[schmoo]

Well, I just remembered that I'm now registered with mazdaspeedmotorsports making OE cheaper than NAPA brand.

I'm preparing to place that order, but I'm stuck at determing how to read the 'Start' and 'End' dates for their parts. For example, is 02/01/2005, MM/DD/YYYY or DD/MM/YYYY? I've even checked other pages to see if I could something with a number greater than 12 appearing, but no luck.

[Zauskycop]

Just call them....they are ALWAYS very helpful getting your order together.

[schmoo]

Just tried. Everyone is at the track today. Try again on Monday.

[Brian Linn]

I repacked my hubs from memory the other night. I forgot that the plastic cages that hold the balls are different. After looking at them, it appears that they will go in either way, but I'm sure there is a reason not to do that. From the photos in the "repacking hubs" guide, it looks like the inside or back holder is not the straight sided version. (Not sure how to describe the difference, one of them has the outside edge flat or straight, while the other "steps down"). Anyone recall which one goes where?
Appreciate any help that is offered.

[FTodaro]

The plastic cage for the rear of the hub Inside facing the car is larger (wider) that the one in the front of the bearing facing away from car. ball bearings are the same size.

[Brian Linn]

The plastic cage for the rear of the hub Inside facing the car is larger (wider) that the one in the front of the bearing facing away from car. ball bearings are the same size.

Thank you!

[Will Dodd]

There is an easier way I picked up working as a bicycle mechanic many moons ago in a shop with a solvent tank and compressed air after repacking bearings the hard way...

Leave the bearings in the retainer. Use solvent, rubber gloves, and a bristle brush to get the heavy stuff out. Use safety glasses and compressed air to blow the other crap out. Lather, rinse, repeat. When you're pretty sure the only thing you're blowing out is clean solvent, hit the next hub. When you're done with the last hub, the solvent will have evaporated in the first hub...add grease. Once you've greased the first hub, the solvent will have evaporated in the 2nd hub.

You'll never break a bearing retainer that way. It's quicker, and less frustrating. I could probably repack a set in the time you'd curse trying to get the bearings out of one hub.

 

Sorry to bring up a really old topic, but I'm repacking my first set of hubs and I don't want to mess with taking the bearings out of the retainers so I am doing it Keith's way above. Is there any reason I need to take the rear seal out in this scenario? I don't see any reason to, but I just wanted to make sure I'm not missing anything by not doing so. Seems to me like the compressed air/solvent/brush got all the grease out. 

[Killian]

I just did this same thing, more or less, on all four of our front hubs before Gateway. Picking at the bearings with a screwdriver had me worried about breaking a cage or scratching the bearings or race, so I sprayed it out. I used brake clean at first but the rubber didn't like it sitting on there for long. Maybe a less harsh solvent would yield the same results without damage to the seals.

 

Either way, repacking was easy and all four lasted throughout the weekend. From here I'll do the every "3 or 4 weekends or every rain race" schedule.

 

This goes without saying but, these were done on hubs without the aggressive machining on the flange that has proven to fail prematurely.

[TommyB]

I noticed there was a company "Machineintegrations" that  recently advertised in the back of Sportscar magazine.

 

Their ad touted a bearing grease packing device  for Miata front hubs.

 

For about $95-$100 they claim you can repack and thus replace the grease in a Miata front  hub without any disassembly.

 

Has anybody tried or used this device and does it work?

 

thanks

Tom B.

[Jim Drago]

I noticed there was a company "Machineintegrations" that  recently advertised in the back of Sportscar magazine.

 

Their ad touted a bearing grease packing device  for Miata front hubs.

 

For about $95-$100 they claim you can repack and thus replace the grease in a Miata front  hub without any disassembly.

 

Has anybody tried or used this device and does it work?

 

thanks

Tom B.

Looks like a nice piece for an enduro car to add grease during the race? I think I would still pull mine apart, clean and regrease for sprint races though