Bearing race removal

Any bright ideas for removing an outer bearing race from my hubs. Used an appropriate socket as usual and the bearing bloody fell apart now I’m stuck with just the outer part ( the race?) stuck in the shell. I’ve tried heating the shell with boiling water then cooling the race with brake fluid. There’s hardly any lip left on to get any sort of drift on. FFS

Internal bearing puller.
Something like this

I’ve got one linked above, works a treat. You should be able to use the larger pullers to grip the knackered race!

It can be a right bollocks with some races, it can be really hard to get a bearing extractor to grip on what’s left but I’d definitely start there just because it’s nondestructive. IME it doesn’t leave many easy options if that doesn’t work…

1) weld a tab onto it. Obviously most people can’t weld so that’s an issue but it’s the best way if you can or you know someone who can. The heat shock helps too.
2) cut the race. Impossible without damaging the hub a little, hard to do without damaging the hub quite a lot. Well, not hard exactly but it’s so easy to give in to frustration or carelessness. Can be impractical depending on the design.
3) Drill into it from the opposite side so you can get a solid hit onto the race. Again, can’t be done without damaging the hub and can be just really bloody difficult with the shape of things.
4) try and get a chisel between the race and the hub from the side. Will always mar the hub a bit and can be very awkward.

Might be others I’m overlooking so don’t take that as a complete list. Heat and cold can help too but tbh it’s really pretty difficult to get a useful amount of cold into it. (heat is sort of the wrong way round as it’ll expand the race in the hole, but that can still flex the parts enough to loosen things a little, break corrosion bonds etc)

I used one of these to get the bearings out of my freehub. I had to do it up really really tight and then do it up some more. But after that it worked. I tried a cheapo one before that but it just disintegrated…

Bearing Pullers (single) – BearingProTools – BearingProTools.com

Heat and cold can help too but tbh it’s really pretty difficult to get a useful amount of cold into it. (heat is sort of the wrong way round as it’ll expand the race in the hole, but that can still flex the parts enough to loosen things a little, break corrosion bonds etc)

I’ve not done a hub but alternating a few hours in the freezer, pour boiling kettle on, back in the freezer, pour boiling kettle on, etc has freed up a couple of things for me.

. (heat is sort of the wrong way round as it’ll expand the race in the hole, but that can still flex the parts enough to loosen things a little, break corrosion bonds etc)

not if you heat the hub! alloy expands more than steel for the same amount of heat.

Plumber’s blowtorch if you aren’t too fussed about the paint

If you’ve got a Dremel or reasonable drill you could use a carbide burr like this;

https://www.zoro.co.uk/shop/cutting-tools/tct-burrs/p821-3.0×3.0mm-carbide-bright-ball-nosed-cone-burr/p/ZT1126776X?utm_source=google&utm_campaign=pla%2B%7C%2BCutting%20Tools&utm_term=ZT1126776X&utm_medium=pla_css_8&gclid=CjwKCAjwzaSLBhBJEiwAJSRoknBZuqxL08tnlxyzcVoTr97DUkvuqebzWNb0sQS_rNN7CxN7m0tyixoC-IcQAvD_BwE

And effectively grind your way through the race, very bloody carefully, and you can be damage free. It takes a while, I did it when I replaced frame bearings and the same thing happened.

Thanks everyone. Opened a can of MTFU. I got busy with a wood chisel and got the offender out. No damage to the hub shell. Result.

Good job! Were you able to get the chisel onto the race from the back still?

tjagain
Full Member

not if you heat the hub! alloy expands more than steel for the same amount of heat.

Yeah but that’s not practical without burning all the finish off and even then you’re limited in how much you can heat it. So it’s just not that useful as an approach, except if you’re completely screwed.