Bearings

[Stickyfinger]

Well why cannot you reuse them ?

Assume the following:
The Hub slides off well but splits the bearing leaving the rear race. All balls intact as is the plastic crush ring.
The rear race is pulled off intact and with no damage to the rear metal cap protector.
The bearing shows little or no marks on the races other than the polished track, Zero depression/lip on the track
You repack with suitable grease.


What is the technical reason for not re-using it ?

[RichardW]

In a recent thread about changing rear axles, Lighty said he quite often does this if the rear race doesn't come off the stub axle with the hub. Can't see a problem if the thing is looking intact - that's how they are put together after all!

[bobins]

Think of all the bearing manufacturers we'd put out of business if we all did this

[Stickyfinger]

The reason I ask is I am looking at a nearly new bearing that came off the red donor car, it is perfect in every way and I cannot understand the reasoning behind the advice in the Book-of-Lies saying never re-use them.

Are there other circumstances where bearings are advised to be junked when they can be removed without damage and they are in good order & low mileage ?

[CitroJim]

I have once reused a front wheel bearing that was almost new but needed to be removed again and came apart on removal...

Popped it back together after giving it a good inspection and it was fine...

Had I seen any damage, either to the races, ball, cage or dust shield I'd have not reused it but all parts looked fine.

[Gibbo2286]

That's almost a daily occurrence in garage workshops, you put them back together repack them with grease and they're as good as new..........................unless you're a main dealer on the make.

[Timmo]

I often pull bearings apart from bikes, especially headset ones, pull the seals, often the inner race will come out, clean, inspect, repack and rebuild it to save the customer a few quid!
I also pop the seals on brand new bearings as they have The Minimum amount of grease they need supplied, this is due to use in high speed operation so the grease will spread out, but when the bearing only has enough to coat one side of the balls, in a bike for certain, you will not get to the speed required to spread it out as you would in a motorbike as such,
Within reason, as long as the races and balls are in good order and no obvious signs of play, there is no reason not to reuse bearings,