MTFCA Forum

One of my wheels has a little bit of in-out movement. This suggests that the nut is not on far enough to hold the outer bearing in place. My problem is that I cannot get the hub off the spindle because I can’t get the outer bearing off.

First, I tried to tighten the nut to adjust the bearing. But I could not budge the bearing even with a breaker bar on the nut. I removed the nut and tried to pry the bearing out with a screwdriver. No luck with that. Before I really start pounding on this hub, I could use any advice you could offer. I don’t want to damage it. It didn’t look that complicated when I studied Martynn’s drawing.


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The bearing itself is threaded onto the spindle. me thinks

I think the bearing is threaded on the spindle. When removing the bearing you thread it off. One side is left handed and the other is right handed. Make sure you turn it in the correct direction when removing or tightening. Once the bearing is tightened on the spindle the nut holds it in place. Tighten the bearing just enough but not to tight where the wheel won’t turn.

I missed the threads in the nut on Martynn's drawing. Thank you for pointing that out. I'm working on the RH side and I'm aware of the thread direction.

Mark, the RH bearing should have a LEFT hand thread. Before you pull the hub, try adjusting the bearing first to get rid of the play you found. You will need to turn the bearing counter clockwise to screw it further in.
Setting the running clearance on the bearings taks a bit of trial and error adjustment. First, I like to wind the outer bearing in until there is some load on the assembly to make sure the bearings are seated. Then I back it off until you can feel slight play at the wheel rim. This play may be in the spindle bushings, so it is better to jam a wooden wedge between the spindle body and the axle to eliminate this. With slight play in the bearings, tension the nut and re check for slight play at the rim. Tensioning the nut against a bearing in which you have slight play will load up the threads in the bearing and may take out the play you had set. If this happens, undo the nut and set a little more play in the bearing. The aim is to have a final setting with just a smidgeon of play, rather than any load on the bearing.

Others may disagree.
Allan from down under.