bearing retention - will this work?

chickenStripCharlie

Coast to Coast
Hi guys. I'm doing a GSXR swap and using an '82 Comstar 19" wheel.
On this wheel there is a bearing retainer ring on one side (R), and (i assume) the speedometer gear assembly acts as a retainer on the other side (L).

Upon closer inspection, i realized that the bearing seating surface on the L side is incredibly shallow! There is barely 1mm of "lip" there for the bearing to seat into. As you can see, the other side has quite a bit more.

My Qs:

1. Is this shallow bearing seat position going to cause problems? Of course, there will be spacers on both sides, as well as a spacer inside the hub, but these will only keep everything tight at the inner bearing ring. I'm concerned about adequate support for the OUTER bearing ring.
2. As the new bearings are 9mm wide (compared to stock 13mm) the bearing retainer ring won't be touching the bearing anyways. Do i still need the ring? I can machine a washer to fill up the 4mm difference, but not sure if this is necessary. (see next q)
3. Why do the rear wheel bearings not have this? They sit in the cups and are only supported by the axle and spacers, which all act on the INNER ring.

Thank You!

P.S. This was discussed in this thread, on the exact same question, but after page 8 it sort of fizzled out and i don't have a concrete answer yet. I mean, it works fine on rear wheel applications, to just hold everything in place with the axle and spacers on the inner ring, so want to make sure i can still be OK with this on the front end.
It begs the question of why the bearing retainer was even used on the OEM application? Does the speedo side not have a spacer so needs to rely on the right side to keep everyhing in place?

https://www.dotheton.com/index.php?threads/comstars-gsx-r-front-end.73476/page-8


Iso34H6.jpg
 
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That 1mm lip is just a stop for the bearing to rest against it doesn't actually do anything.
There should be a spacer in between the bearings that the axle slides through that will keep them separated the proper distance.
(random photo but shows the part)
1581949684128.png
 
That 1mm lip is just a stop for the bearing to rest against it doesn't actually do anything.
There should be a spacer in between the bearings that the axle slides through that will keep them separated the proper distance.
(random photo but shows the part)
View attachment 222764

Yes, of course.
My question was more whether that 1mm lip was enough, and why is it so shallow compared to the other side anyways.

Regardless, having thought about it more, I'm going to have all the proper spacers made up and at the same time might as well get a 36x42x4 mm spacer made as well and that way I will continue to use the OEM retention ring, as designed.

Thanks for replying!! :)
 
I don't see why 1mm isn't enough around the entire OD face of an outer race. If there was significantly more thrust, a regular ball bearing would be having problems.
 
I don't see why 1mm isn't enough around the entire OD face of an outer race. If there was significantly more thrust, a regular ball bearing would be having problems.

You're probably right. I dont disagree on that. My main doubt came from the fact I couldn't tell why they'd do it that way from the factory.

I mean, I see NO reason why they couldn't have made that 3mm shoulder just like on the other side.
 
OK, the reason is simple. The bearing on one side is 'locked' in position. The other bearing doesn't really need any lip as it is spaced on it's centre race. It may 'float' when hub heats up during use to find the correct position for outer race. In all probability, seating the bearing onto the lip will cause binding from side loading until outer race finds it's position.
 
OK, the reason is simple. The bearing on one side is 'locked' in position. The other bearing doesn't really need any lip as it is spaced on it's centre race. It may 'float' when hub heats up during use to find the correct position for outer race. In all probability, seating the bearing onto the lip will cause binding from side loading until outer race finds it's position.

but isn't this the case for ALL bearings? They are locked in position with a spacer between them, and two spacers on the outside forming one rigid connection on the axle.
I've decided to get a spacer under hte locking ring and keep things as they were OEM just to be safe, but i don't understand why the hub heating up and expanding would be an issue on the front and not on the rear wheel. Both are aluminum.

I'm guessing it had something to do with the front speedometer gear on one side perhaps not being able to provide an adequate "lock" on the system, so when one bearing is locked in place, plus the other 3 spacers would provide a true "lock" to keep things rigid.
 
Aluminium expands about six times more than steel so if you have the inner and outer races held 'tight' as the hub expands the bearings 'push' on the edges of outer race. Worst case, the bearing fails. The inner races are all clamped together but one outer 'floats'
 
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