Adjusting Hyper Beach Cruiser Rear Wheel Bearings

[gearhead437]

Dear Fellow Motorheads-I don't want to goad the wet noodle brigade, but noticed that my rear wheel bearings were a tad loose. I called the shop who cleaned and repacked them and they said that they should be adjusted on the loose side. I realize that these are thrust bearings that fit into pressed cups, and that they are an inexpensive way to keep production costs down. I grew up on mid 1960's Fords and , like my 1963 Falcon and 1965-67 Mustangs, have adjusted front end thrust bearings. That being said, I broke out my new cone wrench set and adjusted the rear wheel bearings so that there's no wiggle room whatsoever. The bike shop said that it's better to adjust them on the loose side than too tight, as the wheel can bind otherwise. Was going to remove the 415 drive chain to get a better "feel" for the rear bearing adjustment I did. I spent at least an hour slightly loosening the rear bearings, verifying that they were loose and then tightening them again. There was no sweet spot that I could find in this adjustment. I was told that they can make some noise if they're too tight. Do any of the senior members here have any constructive detailed feedback concerning this? I never claimed to be a mechanic-just a very handy facilities maintenance man-Gearhead437

 

[Wrench]

Upgrade the Wheels

 

[GW's Motorized]

Yup, just upgrade the wheels to a sealed bearing wheel. I just adjusted them to feel not tight but not loose.

 

[darwin]

"Dear Fellow Motorheads-I don't want to goad the wet noodle brigade,"
Just exactly who you callin a WET NOODLE?

 

[gearhead437]

YOU, DARWIN! Seriously though, upgrading to a sealed bearing requires replacing the entire wheel, correct? I've gone cheap on this entire build, and would hate to break this frugal habit of mine-Gearhead437

 

[GW's Motorized]

Yup, you would need to upgrade the wheel. Stock wheels don't last long on MBs

 

[robe]

I've been looking into upgrading my quick release hollow shaft axles to solid ones. There are so many different types, looks like all I can do is disassemble the the wheel and it's bearings and try and find the correct style.

No end to this fooling around, such is the nature of the beast.

 

[GW's Motorized]

No end to this fooling around, such is the nature of the bebeast.

At least it didn't take long to beat this into you . Alot of people get into this hobby thinking it's the end all fix all of transportation and takes very little maintenance

 

[Wrench]

Seriously though, upgrading to a sealed bearing requires replacing the entire wheel, correct? I've gone cheap on this entire build, and would hate to break this frugal habit of mine-Gearhead437

It all depends on your speeds and how much you ride,
I assume your gonna ride alot and your speeds will hit 40 mph, So you should upgrade your wheels because the wheels - spokes, hubs & bearings ya got now are not designed for that kinda abuse,

 

[GW's Motorized]

If you run stock wheels you have to true them and re grease them constantly