Bikesure_adrianflux

Outer bearing removal tool

Ron1000

Ron1000

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Joined
Jun 16, 2015
Messages
980
Location
Livingston
Bike
M1100evo
Hi Guys,
I’m going to be removing my steering stem bearing outer races shortly. Does anybody have a recommended tool for these.

Tools online range from £20 to £160. Unknown what’s good and bad.

Thanks again.
 
Yes the races. Tried the hammer and punch method but there just isn’t enough lip to work with.
 
If you have access to a welder, putting some welds on the races will make them really easy to remove, I know it sounds counter intuitive and I didn't believe it until a colleague showed me, but I have used that method to remove outer races countless times, alternatively you can cut the race off with a gas axe and the flame will not penetrate past the race itself, a bit brutal on a bike frame though.
 
big, cheap-ish/old flathead screwdriver, grind most of one side behind the tip off, so you have a hardened tooth that does fit the notch
 
This is the official method from the factory manual:-

Using a suitable drift, remove the outer bearing races (C) from the steering head. Proceed with extreme care to avoid damaging the seats.
 
Using a suitable drift, remove the outer bearing races (C) from the steering head. Proceed with extreme care to avoid damaging the seats.
 

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I have ordered a four pronged knockout that catches the races and should pop them out with a swift hit with a hammer. Hopefully I’ll have it this week and I’ll let you all know how it went.

Next up I will be fitting the new races. I’m torn between buying the actual correct tool vs using the old races to knock the new races in vs using a suitably sized socket 👀😂
 
keep the old races, they’re the exact size for a drift.

you won’t want to mix them up with the new ones (obvs… and i’d avoid mixing up components of the new bearings between pairs)
Store the new bearings (bagged) in the freezer overnight, pour a boiled kettle over an old tea towel and wrap it round the headstock whilst you get a new shell out of the freezer. (don’t scald yourself)
The microscopic expansion and shrinkage will make your job just that little bit easier.
 
Maybe draw the new bearing races in using threaded bar with nuts and washers at each end.
Good call with the hot & cold thermal engineering
 
slob said:
keep the old races, they’re the exact size for a drift.
Click to expand...
I've been rebuilding my old Land Rover over the last couple of years and, one tip I picked up for changing wheel/hub bearings is to use an old bearing race as a drift but, to make a cut through it so that it can contract, meaning it won't get stuck back in the hub after you've driven the new one in.

Of course these are significantly larger diameter than steering bearings but I thought it a good idea.

As for steering bearings, I've always managed with 'improvised' tools (hammer/big screwdriver/grinder :eek: ) but the heat-up/freeze method is excellent for fitting and saves using too much force, risking damaging the new bearings or, ending up with a bearing half-on that you can neither fully seat or remove easily.
 
slob said:
keep the old races, they’re the exact size for a drift.

you won’t want to mix them up with the new ones (obvs… and i’d avoid mixing up components of the new bearings between pairs)
Store the new bearings (bagged) in the freezer overnight, pour a boiled kettle over an old tea towel and wrap it round the headstock whilst you get a new shell out of the freezer. (don’t scald yourself)
The microscopic expansion and shrinkage will make your job just that little bit easier.
Click to expand...
This - I cut a slot in the old one so they dont get stuck (dont ask!)
 
The four pronged knockout tool did not work, practically no edge to catch with it. I’ll look for alternative options.
 
The tool you need is a large bloodstick (Nottinghamshire slang for hammer) and a suitable punch, any piece of fair sized mild steel round bar should do the trick, the biggest you can fit into the headstock, the more surface area you have between punch and bearing race, the more force it will deliver, better if you grind a chamfered edge on it and then give it some welly.
 
as soon as you find something that gets the old race moving, switch to the other side and keep moving round so the race stays ‘square’ in the tube
 
Mark64 said:
The tool you need is a large bloodstick (Nottinghamshire slang for hammer) and a suitable punch, any piece of fair sized mild steel round bar should do the trick, the biggest you can fit into the headstock, the more surface area you have between punch and bearing race, the more force it will deliver, better if you grind a chamfered edge on it and then give it some welly.
Click to expand...
Idk I never heard that one but in Notts just recently it's knives man. Fkn kids walking around with machetes and sh!t just stabbing people wtf
 
Bloodstick comes from working down the pit, no power tools, the only way to cut anything was with a hacksaw or hammer and chisel or sledgehammer and a set (set = big chisel on a stick)
 
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