Triumph Tiger 955i - Rear Wheel Bearings Removal / Replacement (2006-cast wheel)

[Tiger-G]

Please note I had a rear wheel bearing failure 2 years and 5,000 miles after I put these ones in. Maybe I didn't quite do things correctly ??

Here's a "how to" on how to remove and replace the rear wheel bearings on a Triumph Tiger 955i (2006 - cast wheel).

Hope it helps you out if you're having a go yourself  :icon_wink:


Here we go:

Remove the wheel from the bike, and take off the sprocket carrier (cush drive). I laid the wheel on some blocks of wood, stood on the tyre and pulled up. A rubber mallet may come in handy too, if it's stuck:




Note the internal spacer and which way up it is :




Working on the sprocket carrier first, remove the dust / oil seal by levering with a screwdriver:




Then remove the circlip that prevents the bearing from moving :




Then heat the wheel up round the bearing, to make it expand. This will make the bearing come out easier. It shows me using a hairdryer here, but in reality I resorted to a blow torch (rightly or wrongly ??):




Turn the carrier over, support it on blocks of wood, and use something like an extension bar and socket to bang on the centre race of the bearing:




And out she pops !! :




Clean the bearing area meticulously:




Heat the carrier up ready for the new bearing:




I'd had my bearings in the freezer over night to contract them ready to go in, as they're an interference fit. So it was a rush from the freezer to the garage and pop the bearing in place:




I used the old bearing to start the new one in it's place, just tapping slightly on different points to ensure it went in straight:




Learning from my mistakes when I put my front wheel bearings in the other day, and nearly got the old bearing stuck in the recess, I used an oversize socket on the outside edge of the new bearing to seat it in place. The tapping noise changes to a "ping" when the bearing is fully home. Make sure you don't make contact with the rubber seal or the bearings may be damaged:




Once the bearing is in place, replace the circlip:






Then put the new oil / dust seal in place and that's the sprocket carrier done  :




Moving on to the wheel, remove the dust seal on the brake disc side:




And circlip:







Heat the wheel up near the bearing and move the internal spacer over to the side slightly on the chain side of the wheel with leverage from a large screwdriver, so you can use a suitbale drift and FBH (feckin' big hammer) on the brake side of the wheel to hit the bearing on the other side (chain side). Move the spacer to different positions and hit in different positions to get the bearing to move. Hope that made sense ?? :





And out pops the bearing on the chain side:





Remove the internal spacer:




Heat the wheel up near the bearing, and use a suitable drift and FBH to knock out the brake disc side bearing:







I can't believe it !! Bleeding again !!  Those bloody brake discs are sharp on the inner edges !!   





Out pops the bearing, along with 8 litres of blood (slight exaggeration !):




To put the new bearings in. Heat the wheel up ready to receive the bearing. Do the brake side bearing first:





Run to the freezer, get new bearing and put it in place. Hammer home with a socket again, then put the circlip back in:







Turn the wheel over and put the internal spacer back in on the chain side, making sure it's central:






Heat the wheel up again, run to the freezer, get the bearing and put it in place:




LISTEN VERY CAREFULLY, I WILL SAY THIS ONLY ONCE !!

Again, learning from my mistakes when doing the front wheel the other day, when you hit the new bearing home, make sure you do it slowly, tap by tap. This is so you can check the movement on the internal spacer. You don't want to hit the bearing so far in that the internal spacer won't budge. That's too tight and may effect rotation:



Tap the bearing in to the perfect position, so the internal spacer can move slightly, like when you were first checking the movement before removal:





Put the dust seal in on the brake side:






And push the sprocket carrier back onto the wheel:





All done, have a cuppa and a biscuit  !!

Hope that helps someone else out   

[iansoady]

Nice set of pics - I like the blood! I still have a blue scar on one thumb from driving out a Morris 1000 front wheel bearing........

If I could add a couple of comments:

1. It's unlikely to be an interference fit as such but will be tight.

2. When fitting the new bearings, I use a block of wood to start it then a socket which is just smaller than the OD so that it bears on the outer race (it helps to have 40-odd years of accumulated tools to choose from.....)

3. The central spacer should be tight between the inner races. If you think about it, when you tighten the spindle, it pulls all the components together so it will take any clearance up. The inner races, spacers and spacer tube form what is effectively a single unit.

[Tiger-G]

Some good info there Ian, thanks for that   

[Tiger-G]

Quick update:

As you will see in my amended original post, I had a rear wheel bearing failure 2 years and 5,000 miles after I put the new ones in, so maybe I didn't quite use the correct technique, so be warned if you're following my advice 

When I put the new ones in this time I didn't bother cooling the bearings down in the freezer, or heating the wheel up, and the they went in just as easily. May save a bit of time if you're doing it yourself.

[VABird]

Sockets can damage the bearings!
Bearing & axle drivers are the way to go.
http://jack-be-quick.com/products/specialty-tools/

[Tiger-G]

Good bit of kit there, would make the job so much easier 

Another update: I've had another set of bearings fail after two years and 5,000 miles. I don't think it's my technique now, I think it's the same cheap aftermarket bearings I used. The originals were NSK and the ones I'm using this time are Koyo.

Graeme's top tip......don't use sh!t aftermarket bearings, use one of the top brand ones that aren't made in China !!  :icon_wink: