Tapered Bearing Installation

M

msimm43

Been Around the Block
I am installing tapered bearings for '76 CB750F.

I check the older threads and I seem to be running into the same problem that a lot of people have had about getting the the lower bearings to seat at the bottom of the steering stem.

I tried putting the stem in the freezer overnight, and heating the the bearings in the oven, and I was able to get the bearings to this point.

photo-1.jpg


Is this a matter of just hitting harder with the hammer? (using a drifts so I am not trying to lower it one side at a time) Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

All the best,
Matt
 
<a href="http://www.stephenbottcher.net/Honda/tapered.htm"><<THIS>></a> guy put a copper pipe over the whole wax works and smacked it with a hammer after heating the bearing. I looks like he used the spacer though.

Good Luck!
 
he did use the spacer, but if you read through the write up it appears that the spacer was not needed as he ended up with a bit of a gap.
 
find a good hammer and a tapered punch,,pound it 90 degrees at a time it should seat..pound the inner race
 
WHOA!!!!!!!!!!

Is that the old ball bearing race sitting below the new tapered bearing? That should be gone if I'm not mistaken.

Ideally you want a pipe the same diameter as the inner bearing race (the sleeve that fits over the steering stem) that you then use to press it into place, using a mallet to tap it into place (pounding & bearings should never be mentioned in the same sentence ;))

Tap it into place. But that lower bearing race needs to be GONE if I'm right.
 
That is not the old race. That came with the new set of bearings. I assumed it should go on the bottom of the stem to compensate for the extra width of the old race.

If anybody knows if I am wrong, then please chime in so I can avoid having to get the bearing off to remove it.
 
well that looks like its just one of the spacers, looks kinda thick though, but w/e. The thing is though, I would have tapped the spacer all the way down, and then pressed on the bearing. Probably would have made life easier. Id honestly suggest emailing all balls with that picture though and ask them if it looks right, they have a pretty helpful staff.
 
Wee Todd said:
find a good hammer and a tapered punch,,pound it 90 degrees at a time it should seat..pound the inner race
Click to expand...

Except one slip and the bearing is destroyed....best to find a suitable piece of pipe (steel is OK as long as it sits on the inner race)
 
BUNK read it again....drive the inner race,,chunk of anything solid will seat the bearing....uuuummmmm three of your mothers stained hot knives.. it wound together with cable wire,,,,etc ,,,,,,,food for thought,,,remember doing the front bearings on your truck,,or trailer..you did this,,,at sometime??......remember how you installed them,,,,and you had a pipe handy,,,,,,,,,,,yafs
 
After I sent the picture to AllBalls.com and they said everything looked good, I got the bearing seated. Here is how I did it:

  • I place the old race flat side down on top of the new bearing
  • I fit a 1.5" steel pipe over the stem and on top of the the old race
  • Then I pounded it into place with a rubber hammer

That was the good news. The bad news is that the spacer that I had placed below the bearing was too thick. Now I am trying to get the bearing back off without destroying it. I already wrecked the seal.

I talked to a guy at AllBalls and he said that they could send me a new seal, and if I need a new bearing he might be able to give me a discount. I thought that was pretty cool of them.

So I guess the new thread will be un-installing tapered bearings". So frustrating.
 
Wee Todd said:
BUNK read it again....drive the inner race,,chunk of anything solid will seat the bearing....uuuummmmm three of your mothers stained hot knives.. it wound together with cable wire,,,,etc ,,,,,,,food for thought,,,remember doing the front bearings on your truck,,or trailer..you did this,,,at sometime??......remember how you installed them,,,,and you had a pipe handy,,,,,,,,,,,yafs
Click to expand...

WTF ???
 
Here is the latest update.

I got the bearings off with the assistance of a full size crowbar. The bearing still seem to work well, but the seal is wrecked.

So for anybody with a '76 CB750F, you do not need the extra spacers in the All balls tapered steering bearings kit.
 
axle bearings, like your on your grandma's 77 caprice,,,we drove them on with a pneumatic hammer,,,90 degrees at a time,,and really fast :: as for removing old bearings off the bottom stem,,and salvaging them,,,,,,be prepared to buy a new bearing...( as in tapered roller bearing),,,,,,,,,,,,good rucks
 
If you find you're looking at new bearings, check the stamping on the all-balls bearing. Google it.

When I was doing the wheel bearings in my BMW (tapered) I puked when I was told $70 PER BEARING from BMW (4 needed - 2 per wheel). Some research lead me to the appropriate Timken bearing model, and $17 each later, I was all good.

Not sure what the kit costs, but if more than $30-$40 you should be able to get the bearings themselves cheaper.

I'm surprised whatever instructions that came with the kit didn't say what spacers were for what bike.
 
Well the kits fit so many bikes.. and the spacers arent made exactly for any one bike but you are given varying sizes so you can get it as close as possible. All balls would need to have an insane amount of test bikes to be able to give bike specific instructions.

And I got my all balls kit for somewhere between 30 and 40$.
 
I am re-using the bearing for moching up the bike, but I may replace it when I do the final build. It still spins smoothly, but I have to take it off again to replace the seal. So we will see how it hold up when that happens.

As far a the lack of instructions go, I am a little to blame there. I took out the old bearing before I had the new kit, and i didn't keep the old ball bearings. The first thing it says in the kit is to measure the width of the old races with the bearings in. That way you can find out if you need the spacers or not.

So pretty much all of my frustration can be traced back to my own actions.

Thanks for the tip about the stamping, I will check that out.
 
anyone reading this thread done this bearing swap on a CB360? i have a CB350 that i'm putting a CB360 front end on. i have the allballs kit and it says to measure and use spacers to match the measurements of your existing setup, but of course i don't have an existing setup to measure.... anyone who's done this know which/where spacers are required for a CB360?

thanks! and sorry for the threadjack...
 
overdraft said:
anyone reading this thread done this bearing swap on a CB360? i have a CB350 that i'm putting a CB360 front end on. i have the allballs kit and it says to measure and use spacers to match the measurements of your existing setup, but of course i don't have an existing setup to measure.... anyone who's done this know which/where spacers are required for a CB360?

thanks! and sorry for the threadjack...
Click to expand...

Just pull the bearing races from the frame's headstock, and install the "All Balls" race- you will see exactly how thick of a spacer you need to clear the lower clamp.

On a 1974 CB 550 a .195" spacer will do the trick. The spacer must be installed on the steerer before the bearing is pressed on of course!
 
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