Cleaning & oiling bearings
 

Hi all
Just looking to see the best way to clean bearings and what oil or grease every body uses.

Regards
Gary

I spray them down with my air compresser, then give them a quick wipe with a clean cloth, then oil them with tirnity royal oil

i use bearing oil.... :lol:

bearing oil
 

if ur looking to oil clutch bearings MIP has a new bearing luber for the standard 8x10mm bearing that works just super and it comes with special bearing grease. This device removes old grease an puts in new grease in just 1 sec. try it ull like it.

How do you get the seal off of the bearing?

If you have an exacto knife you can release the tiny thin retaining ring (don't lose it) and then lift up the seal. Be careful not to ruin the seal - I do that a lot. Then I have to turn the bearing so the "unsealed" side is away from dirt. Onroad this is less of an issue than offroad.

However, there is another technique I use: I spray them out with motor spray, then re-lube in place. Not as effective, but easier to do on a regular basis. Like changing oil in your car, frequency of maintenance is more critical than which brand of oil.

In onroad where things are cleaner I get by with lubing every race weekend, then an overhaul 1-2x per year. I think lubing every race weekend is worth it, even more so offroad.

Light bearing oil like speed lube = fastest, but least protection. Medium weight oil like trinity bushing oil is what I use offroad so it will last a little longer. But I run brushless pffroad so max power is not my concern, destroying bearings is.

bearing blaster.. http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXEV92&P=7

Everytime I clean my 1/8 buggies, I pull out all of the bearings. Is it a lot of work, yes. As swopedmike said, use an xacto to pry one seal off, blast the bearing with a cleaner, put in new grease, and re-install the seal.


I see alot of people hosing down their cars with high pressure water, it's probably the worst thing you can do. Water will get in many places ( bearings, between arms and hinge pins, and in the diffs) and never come out.

My favorite technique
 

My favorite technique is just to throw them out and replace them when they get gritty. At a dollar a piece for AVID or Panther bearings, non-ceramic, this works for me.

The bearing blaster is good! :nod:

But the $1 bearings from Avid are great!! Some drivers clean the avid bearing out and re oil before use to make them more efficient, like tuning a motor. It is probably not necessary for the average racer like me though.... Although perhaps it is.... :sneaky:

I use brake cleaner to blast the dirt out and use winchester gun oil to oil them, the oil works awsome and is only about 2 bucks at walmart

Is the bearing suppose to make a sound when its all cleaned and lube up?
Or they should be soundless like when they are new?

between the rpm bearing blaster and mobil 1 motor oil, I can't find anything else that works better.

and as stated above, after 1 or 2 cleanings, put them in the "used/emergency" box and get new ones from avid for $1 a piece.