Timken wheel bearings

Liquid nitrogen is the way to go for freezing bearing races. Not practical for a guy who does bearings once in a blue moon though.

 

If they come in the same box I have always been told they are matched. A black sharpie to mark them is what I do.

Course a bit of me says if you have to use matched sets why can you buy them separately? I guess it's habits from working on stuff that required matched pairs lol

 

I do the same. I ground the outside diameter of some old races a little so they have a slip fit in the bore, some hubs have a deep enough bearing bore that beater race sticks. People told me about freezing them, but I never had a problem putting them in, so I never tried it. I used to use a brass drift, which worked OK for an occasional bearing change. But when you do it a few times a week, it really puts a beating on the brass and you need to keep grinding it to square it up. That's why a use the old races now.

Not for hubs, but while we're talking about bearings. For bearings that are pressed on a shaft, like when rebuilding a transmission, an old coffee maker heating plate works great. Set the bearing on it for an hour or so and it will slide right on. We have bearings on a screw shaft for the car haulers, there is no room to swing a hammer and a PITA to take the whole shaft out. Now I just heat them up on the old coffee pot and I can slide them on. You need to be fairly quick, they cool down fast.

 

Normally did not have time to wait 24 hours and use a 7/8 hex steel hex shaft or tool made from a ground down race. Dropping the races in ice water while you use a hot water pressure washer on the hubs does not hurt or take long.
Saw a new trailer with a burned up bearing several years ago. I blamed it on mix matched bearings,China, India, Mexico etc and all different brands. Patched it up so it could run and the trailer company sent a new axle. Told the customer I would recommend all new brand name Timken or Bower bearings. Ordered all new Timken's and they were made in three different countries but one brand. Just saying you are not alone with that in Australia.
As one of the foundation USA ag tractor counter sales guy's told me when I picked up my brand name part made in China "we are truly a world wide company". Working on the one world program?

 

What options does one have when the race starts spinning on the hub ? Back in the day I use a punch and hammer pits all over the hub and/or used JB weld. This was just a temporary fix. Parts house weren't open late weekends and Sundays back then. Had to keep those wheels turning.

 

On heavy equipment or in millwright applications we would typically use a bearing mount compound for loose fitting bearings. Only trouble is taking them off can be a bit of a PITA. That stuff works great if the tolerances are only a couple thou off. Not sure how well it'd work with bearings that need to be set though since that stuff will lock the bearings tight to whatever its installed on.

 

When using the old race to install the new one I slice the old race in a chop saw. That keeps the old race from fitting tight into the bore. It's snug but can be easily removed.