Good way to clean bearings?
 

I usually clean out my bearings by soaking them in WD-40 and then spraying them out with motor spray/break cleaner, but I don't want to use the spray on my rubber-sealed bearings, so what can I do instead? Or should I go hardcore and run them without seals :D
Thanks

Go Hardcore if they are not ceramics.

leave the sheild that is exposed to the elements on and the side of the bearing that is enclosed by plastic, ie the hub bearings or anything enclosed in a diff case etc take out that sheild on that side.

What i do is take off the rubber seal on on side. it is quite fragile so be careful. then i put the bearing inbetween my fingers amd spray motor spray until it spins fast and then i put 3 drops of bearing oil in it and let her buck. i have been racing for 17 years and i have never had a bearing go out on me

Another good way to clean them is the RPM Bearing Blaster as it holds everything and let only the motor spray and the gunk out the bottom. Costs like $8.95. I find that you might have to use it two times to get everything out but the bearing doesn't loose any of its tightness around the seals.
Then one drop of some thin bearing lube. I like Acers stuff or Trinity's Royal Oil.
I have a very free drive train and there hasen't been a bearing failure yet.
Just my opinion,
-Stephen <><

I drilled a hole in the lid of a small water bottle. drop bearings in the bottle, then spray motor spray until the bearings are submerged. Shake them around abit. Pour out the motor cleaner through the hole in the lid, take the bearings out.

The more I think about it, the worse this method is... If you are not careful... draining the motor spray through the lid means tipping the bottle and the bearings and dirt..

hmm

I currently use the RPM bearing blaster and it works great, but my main concern is that with the rubber-sealed bearings, the spray will warp/deform the shields a little so it won't spin freely.

I use ultrasonic/jewelry cleaner with WD40. Spray it out with motor cleaner to get the grime out. Soak it over night on WD40. Just before the race, use Zubak bearing oil. I only lost a bearing once....front right oval...not because of dirt/grime but by hitting the wall on oval track. If you keep up the good work of maintaining your bearing, it will last long.....Stay away from the wall !!!!! :nod: ZOOOM.... ZOOOM ....ZOOOOM....... :tire:

Henry E. :batman:

Take off one of the shields and cram the entire bearing with metal polish.

Literally take the open side of the bearing (after you've flushed it out with motor spray) then really fill the entire cavity of the bearing with metal polish.

Reinstall it back into your car. YES IT WILL BE MESSY, but bear with me. Hook your spur gear shaft into a drill and run the drill wide open for like 3 mintues.

Remove all the bearings, flush them with motor spray.

Re- Cram the bearings with polish again.

Reinstall bearings.

spin the shaft for another 3 mintues.

repeat maybe 3 or more times and you won't know what to do with all the free spin you'll have!!

I'M NOT JOKING, THIS IS THE BEST THING I'VE EVER COME ACROSS!!!

Thanks for all the replies :)
I'd like to get a straight answer on this though: will the motor spray (brake cleaner) harm the rubber seals?
Thanks. :cool:

shookie, have you tried running the bearing with NO shield in the bulkheads? I figure if I do this, then I can just spray them out after a run or two. Then re-oil before the main.

Yeah i use on of these to clean all my RC stuff but use "Kero" it brings everything up like brand new.Then soak bearings in light machine oil B4 re-fitting.

Cheers

Not anymore with the BD and now LCG becasue they have open gear boxes and every little peice of dirt, fuz or what not could get right into the bearings with a shield missing. On my BD I got the ultra highend BOCA ceramics(side note these are total over kill)only because I helped them get all the sizes, for this they gave me a nice discount and I love them so far, once i got them free of all the greasy stuff, I clean them with the Bearing Blaster, soak them overnight in Boca bearing lube, Add one drop of acer oil and I'm off. (NOTE DO NOT DO THIS WITH RUBBER SHEILDS AS THE BEARING LUBE FROM BOCA WILL STICK TO MUCH AND WILL CAUSE DRAG). But I leave all the shields intacked. When I ran my TC3 and the SD/Rayspeed I did the one sheild off and yes made a huge difference in free spinning. In fact I just got a BJ4 so I will be doing this trick again. For the LCG I went with the Yokomo Ceramics as to make a standard percision bearing kit by all the part numbers would have cost the same so I figured why not for LCG...Very good quality and price.
Hope this helps,
-Stephen <><

just curious, what's w/ all this soaking over night business??

can't you just add bearing oil? :sweat:

So you guys soak your bearings in lube over night... and then fish them out of it... and add bearing oiL?? no drying nothing??


Sorry.. I just got ceramics... still learning to take care of them... :sweat: