Axle bearing retainer direction.

[mtbtim]

Got the axles back and did the sharpie test. I'm really glad I had the machine shop flip the retainers. The seal line was only about 3mm from the inner edge of the polished surface. There was also 5mm of polished axle showing so I guess that's not a consistent rule of thumb. 4.5 mm would have been the center of the polished area which would have been ideal but I didn't want to take it back to the shop to have them try try back off the retainer. I feel like 3mm should be adequate.

Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk

5mm is a ballpark figure. I'm now suggesting people press the inner retainer on with 4mm of polished axle showing first, do a sharpie test and then see if they need to press it on further to get the seal lip more centered on the polished shoulder of the retainer. The key to making this repair work is to verify a good mating of the seal and inner retainer by taking the time to do a sharpie or grease test. I like the sharpie test over the grease test because it's very clear with the sharpie test where the seal is riding and it's less messy.

3mm from the edge is fine. If a bearing was allowing that much movement to cause the seal to leak, the bearing is toast and you'd have to do the job anyway.

 

[Wedgy]

I like the sharpie test over the grease test because it's very clear with the sharpie test where the seal is riding and it's less messy.

I haven't watched the progression in a while, since the grease test anyway, can you reference the sharpie test ?
thanks

 

[Bad Luck]

I haven't watched the progression in a while, since the grease test anyway, can you reference the sharpie test ?
thanks

Draw a sharpie line through the inner retainer parallel with the axle shaft, install axle, rotate a few times, remove axle shaft, check sharpie mark. I usually do several thick sharpie marks on the inner retainer. I also tighten at least 2 of the axle nuts holding the axle in when I do the test.

 

[mtbtim]

Draw a sharpie line through the inner retainer parallel with the axle shaft, install axle, rotate a few times, remove axle shaft, check sharpie mark. I usually do several thick sharpie marks on the inner retainer. I also tighten at least 2 of the axle nuts holding the axle in when I do the test.

Yeah, what he said.