Tried to remove bearings from the hollowlink on my trusty old stumpjumper- 2 came out OK, the outer rings of the other two are stuck in place after the inners of the bearings came away seperately. How the f*ck can I now remove the outer rings

could try getting some expanding wedge bolts, like you would use to fasten something to the ground. Insert from the inside of the linkage and expand to grip the edges of the bearing race, then use hammer and drift to (try and!) knock them out.

Assemble a bearing puller from threaded bar tube and so on.

This sort of thing

http://www.audifans.com/kb/Bearing_puller

Socket and a hammer?

I'm guessing as the bearings have collapsed and there is just the outside edge left, that there is no surface visible to hit against, or for the bearing puller to pull against.

mike_check you are right! I also can't get into the back of the outer edge as it is set into the hollowlink.

You can slide a bolt through from the back though I think, then wind up the expander bolt so it grips the inside of the bearing race, do it up nice and tight, then through the opposite side, use a socket bar and hammer to hit against the expanding bolt.

Alternatively, what size is the bit that's left in? Maybe a star nut could be hammered into the bit left in the frame, then use a socket and bolt to pull it out.

Use a Dremmel or get a bit of GENTLE heat on it.

rockhopper – Tried some heat ……… they are firmly stuck!

Mike_check – thanks for the suggestions they sound good – but I've not got any of that kit & I need the bike for Friday

Looks like its the LBS tomorrow – and risk the hollow laughter as another amateur cocks it up & comes in with his tail between his legs!

Thanks all for your suggestions!

jj55 where abouts are you….?

herefordshire

Shame, ive got some internal bearing pullers that I did mine with but im near Birmingham so no good to you…

OK – thanks for the offer anyway!

Sure you can't get at that at an angle with a hammer and screwdriver?

IA – no! Tried it but it's only f**king up the hollowlink

Internal bearing puller set-best £100 I have spent had the same thing on all the bearing races in the bottom of my Coiler swingarm-took four hours with the right tool and a kilo slide hammer!!!!!

One of these http://www.enduroforkseals.com/id197.html

Thats the kit i've got. About £100 off Ebay.

Machine Mart shop £103. Will do car bearings too. A can of Plus Gas will make it a whole load easier if you soak it in it overnight.

local garage or engineer shop will have a bearing puller (exactly what you need, as per above), might be more convenient that your LBS (or if they don't have one).
The only amateurism you can be blamed for, is that you left it too long before replacing the bearings, not that they fell apart when you tried to remove them.

I've had this problem several times.

Use a dremmel or B&Q copy, just grind slots into the outer race, three equally spaced work best.

or if you want to try and use a puller put the link in a plastic bag overnight with some plus gas / wd40 or other penetrating oil

can you not assemble a hacksaw blade inside the loop? ie take the blade off, thread it through the loop and then attach it again to saw through the outer race?

B+Q do juniour hacksaws for a few quid

Enduro used to sell these;

which would seem to be able to do the job as you don't need access for a drift from behind the bearing to use it (which you can't do due to the lip on the arm).

if all else fails get a local engineering co. to drill it out with something just smaller than the o.d. of the bearign shell.

In the past ive used a large bolt and just welded the bolt head onto the bearing race then knocked out the bolt.

I'd go along with the Dremel/ windygrinder suggestions.

Just grind through the race in a couple of places and knock the bits out.

I'd avoid any suggestion of welding. The Alu frame will get FAR to hot even just tacking a bolt onto the bearing race.

Just grind through the race in a couple of places and knock the bits out.

Yeah, that's what I'd do. Sometimes you can tap a small screwdriver under the race, and fold it in half too.

I'd take the grinder route, being careful not to go completely through to the arm material (hard as it may be difficult to distinguish). But a super-quick tack weld with the arm in a wet rag would be fairly safe if you wanted to weld a nut to it, IMO.

i had a similar problem with a Surly flip/flop hub. the bearing disintergrated leaving the outside ring stuck in the hub body.

we took a dremmel to it and VERY carefully cut through it making sure we didn't touch the alu hub. it took steady hands and a bit of patience but we got it out.

good luck.

I've have used one of these before.

You'll need to cut a few mm off the bottom split to allow a sharp edge to bite the inner race.

I now use one like this: –