Front Wheel Axle Spacer

[Harryc]

I changed the front wheel bearings on my Valk Tourer the other day. I had one that was bad at 32K miles. I've changed many bearings in the past but I never saw this issue. When I installed the axle spacer and drove in the second bearing, the spacer became tight between the bearings. The bearings spun Ok but in the back of my mind I am thinking that there should be some lateral play (not much but some) with the spacer inside the hub when the bearings are driven home.  I can remove one of the bearings and get a new one if I have to, but the wheel does spin freely (yes I did install it) so am I playing a mind game with myself?. Seems to me if the spacer is tight it might place some side pressure on the inner race. Would you address this if it was your bike or just ride it and forget it? The Valkyrie Tech manual does not address this...all it says is to drive home the right bearing first, install the spacer, then drive home the left. The other thing is this is an "All Balls" bearing kit for the Valkyrie. Maybe I did it to myself with this kit?. A couple of thousandths too thick on the inner race would be all it would take, and no I didn't mic them beforehand to compare. I plan on a few multi-hundred/thousand mile trips in the next few years, so it's important I get it right.

[The emperor has no clothes]

I think you are fine. I would suspect after riding for a while when you go to change your front tire it will have loosened slightly. If not and there is too much pressure on the inner races, I don't think it will take long to fail.

[Hook#3287]

I agree with Rob, I think you're good.

As long as you used the correct bearings, which I'm sure you did, the spacer, bearings, speedo assembly, fork tube bottoms and exterior spacer set the distance the axle tightens.

[Harryc]

Thanks Gents, I'll just ride it. Rob you're right. worst case is they go bad and I have to replace them, which is what I'd have to do anyway. If luck is on my side it won't be for a hundred K miles.

[The emperor has no clothes]

Thanks Gents, I'll just ride it. Rob you're right. worst case is they go bad and I have to replace them, which is what I'd have to do anyway. If luck is on my side it won't be for a hundred K miles.

Well, keep in mind. It's just my gut feeling about it. It you get 2,000 miles away from home and it fails, forget everything I said.  As an aside, I hope I'm not jinxing myself. But I've got a total of 178,000 on 2 different bikes with original bearings all the way around. I've been carrying around a full set of bearings for 6 years now. I guess once I take them out of the saddlebag, that's when they'll fail. 

[Harryc]

Well, keep in mind. It's just my gut feeling about it. It you get 2,000 miles away from home and it fails, forget everything I said. 

No worries, I have a bad short term memory. 

[pancho]

It all comes down to what kind of tool you used to install the bearing,, a bearing press will put pressure on both races equally, and a tight spacer is no problem as it will be tight when the axle nut is torqued anyhow. If the bearing was installed with pressure on the outer race only, like driving it in with a socket until the spacer is tight, then there can be lateral pressure on the balls that can cause problems. But in either case, I don't think you will have any problems for many thousands of miles,, people have been doing it forever. Just might not last as long as it could have.

[Harryc]

@Pancho...yup guilty with the socket on the outer race...don't have a press. It is what it is. Thanks!
As a side note, I did invest in the 'Tusk' bearing puller set and I highly recommend it. (Rocky Mtn ATV).

[gordonv]

I can only add about the axle line. Insure that it is seated correctly. On the left side, the one without the bolt, there should be a line,between the wheel and fork, that should be just up against the fork. No pictures to post, and I'm sure all the old posts with pictures are now gone, until someone reposts.

Your post doesn't sound like the usual one that would be an axle problem, but I just wanted to mention it.

[pancho]

Really like that bearing remover set,, makes the job clean and easy.
Bearing driver sets are inexpensive, I made some out of brass on a lathe to fit the Valk wheels,,  the trick for longevity is to press both races equally with the opposing side backed up,, no lateral stresses on the bearing components.  I guess it becomes more critical in things like a 36000 RPM turbopump,, but we want ours to last as long as possible too.

http://www.eastwood.com/10-pc-bearing-and-seal-driver-set.html?mrkgcl=764&mrkgadid={_mrkgadid}&rkg_id=h-3076cff3c8b9e08d7fa36cf1737d8cf6_t-1515506735&product_id={product_id}&adpos={adposition}&creative={creative}&device={device}&matchtype={matchtype}&network={network}&SRCCODE=PLA00020&gclid=Cj0KCQiA7dHSBRDEARIsAJhAHwgGG6EiCHaKqO_VnJfaL333UM2cEuJLF-Jc0PT6OXYq9u8y0tNm0jEaAuHCEALw_wcB

[Harryc]

@pancho , thanks for the recommend on the bearing driver set. I might just pick that one up.

[Tfrank59]

Harry, this has come up a lot.  For me, when I changed both my front and rear wheel bearings, I made sure the inner spacer had NO lateral movement between the inner races of the bearings.  If there is even say .010" of slop on that inner spacer side-to-side between the inner races of your wheel bearings, that's how much side pre-load will be on your bearings once the axle gets tightened, which can quickly cause the bearings to fail.  The ball bearings in our Valks (and in most motorcycle wheels) aren't designed to have an axial preload, like say tapered roller bearings are.

[Harryc]

Harry, this has come up a lot.  For me, when I changed both my front and rear wheel bearings, I made sure the inner spacer had NO lateral movement between the inner races of the bearings.  If there is even say .010" of slop on that inner spacer side-to-side between the inner races of your wheel bearings, that's how much side pre-load will be on your bearings once the axle gets tightened, which can quickly cause the bearings to fail.  The ball bearings in our Valks (and in most motorcycle wheels) aren't designed to have an axial preload, like say tapered roller bearings are.

@Tfrank59, thanks for the explanation. This makes me feel better because for once I stumbled through the right way to do it. Lol.

[Cracker Jack]

Harry, this has come up a lot.  For me, when I changed both my front and rear wheel bearings, I made sure the inner spacer had NO lateral movement between the inner races of the bearings.  If there is even say .010" of slop on that inner spacer side-to-side between the inner races of your wheel bearings, that's how much side pre-load will be on your bearings once the axle gets tightened, which can quickly cause the bearings to fail.  The ball bearings in our Valks (and in most motorcycle wheels) aren't designed to have an axial preload, like say tapered roller bearings are.

How do you make sure "the inner spacer had NO lateral movement between the inner races of the bearings"? How do you measure it and is there some adjustment that you can make to insure this that I'm not aware of?

It seems to me that that is determined by the length of the spacer relative to the distance between the bottom of the bearing sockets. 

[Harryc]

How do you make sure "the inner spacer had NO lateral movement between the inner races of the bearings"? How do you measure it and is there some adjustment that you can make to insure this that I'm not aware of?

It seems to me that that is determined by the length of the spacer relative to the distance between the bottom of the bearing sockets. 

tfrank59 might have a different answer, but to me it seems if the spacer has no movement between the inner bearing races you're done...as in zero clearance. Therefor there is no measurement for zero clearance, and I agree with your statement about the length of the spacer. When I drove the second bearing home, the inner race hit the edge of the spacer and I was done. I remember now where I got it in my head about spacer movement (33 minute mark in the video)...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQbKXbhyFQs
Now that I watch the video a second time, he basically did it the same way I did. When all was done, I was able to move/align the spacer tube to get the axle in, but it was fairly tight. Initially when I took the wheel off the bike to change the tire, the spacer tube was much looser and I found a loose inner bearing race on one bearing. It actually moved laterally within it's case. Maybe that is why the bearing failed...too much lateral movement, or that is why the tube was loose, because the bearing had side movement. I am pretty sure the bearings I changed were factory installed/originals though, and part of the reason I was questioning myself on this job. At the end of the day I am confident this entire thread was not needed, but if it helps someone down the road our job is done.

[Tfrank59]

Harry, this has come up a lot.  For me, when I changed both my front and rear wheel bearings, I made sure the inner spacer had NO lateral movement between the inner races of the bearings.  If there is even say .010" of slop on that inner spacer side-to-side between the inner races of your wheel bearings, that's how much side pre-load will be on your bearings once the axle gets tightened, which can quickly cause the bearings to fail.  The ball bearings in our Valks (and in most motorcycle wheels) aren't designed to have an axial preload, like say tapered roller bearings are.

How do you make sure "the inner spacer had NO lateral movement between the inner races of the bearings"? How do you measure it and is there some adjustment that you can make to insure this that I'm not aware of?

It seems to me that that is determined by the length of the spacer relative to the distance between the bottom of the bearing sockets. 

Yes that is correct. If you have pressed the outer races completely into the bearing hubs they should shoulder off at the exact time that the inner races make contact with the inner spacer. But if you had some trash in the bearing hubs  that might prevent the outer races from seating completely, then you would have a gap between the inner races and the spacer inside the Hub.  You would know there's a gap because the inner spacer would be loose.