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seca 550 front wheel bearing

Discussion in 'XJ Technical Chat' started by livedog, Jan 11, 2020.

  1. livedog

    livedog New Member

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    Hi,
    I'm failing at replacing the front wheel bearings on my 1982 Seca 550. Any advice would be appreciated.

    I'm using the wheel bearing kit from All Balls Racing, 25-1311. Has anyone used this kit?
    https://www.allballsracing.com/25-1311.html

    I've replaced the bearings twice and each time I end up with the bearings froze. Both times I took great care to not hit the inner race. I'm using a nut and the old bearings to drive the bearings into the hub. I was careful to protect the inner race but maybe...

    The first time the inner spacer was misaligned and I had trouble installing the wheel. I thought I damaged the inner race during installation. I do not recall checking if the inner race was moving freely before trying to install the wheel.

    I ordered a new kit and tried again. This time I made sure the spacer was aligned. After installing the bearing, the inner race was froze. I installed both bearing before checking that the inner race moved freely, my bad.

    Both times I did pull the seals on the bearings and clean out the grease and repack with red grease.

    Am I using the wrong kit? Is there a better kit? I don't want to do this again. Any advice?

    FYI, I'm new to working on anything mechanical.
     
  2. Franz

    Franz Well-Known Member

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    If you go to the heading XJ Technical Chat and then PDF write-ups there is a how to do front wheel bearings there.
     
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  3. jayrodoh

    jayrodoh YimYam Premium Member

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    You are probably driving the bearing in too far. The first bearing gets seated fully, the second one you tap in until it just touches the spacer. If you drive it in too far/hard it will put pressure on the inner races and cause them to bind.
     
  4. jayrodoh

    jayrodoh YimYam Premium Member

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    5102FB50-95D5-4A8E-9996-4AD4B392974C.jpeg
     
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  5. Jetfixer

    Jetfixer Well-Known Member

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    Xj4ever has the correct bearings, when I did replace mine these were spot on. I have used All Balls seal kits they fit good ,but the bearings perhaps might be off slightly . Chacal might be slightly higher in price , but his parts are great and if you have any problem he makes it right.
     
  6. XJ550H

    XJ550H Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    I have used those kits work fine.
    make sure you install spacer in correct direction it has a flange washer on it flange should be on speedo hub side.

    1 put your bearings in the feezer for a few days
    2 go buy a socket is as large as the outer race
    3 get wheel ready a little spray silicon on it
    4 take 1 bearing out of the freezer use a can of air upside down and spray down the bearing
    5 gently tap it into palce if you froze it enough you may be able to push it in most of the way . wear gloves.
    6 repete chilling for second bearing
    7 put axle through second bearing aline spacer with axle , you will need a hole in bench for axle to drop through
    8 tap it into wheel

    this is how to do rear read it
    REAR WHEEL BEARING REPLACEMENT: How-To w/Pics

    front from manual
    bear1.PNG bear2.PNG

     
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2020
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  7. livedog

    livedog New Member

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  8. livedog

    livedog New Member

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    Hi All,
    Thanks for the replies.

    I will re-read the bearing install information.

    It looks like may have over driven the bearing an caused the problem. When I removed the bearings after the 1st install, the flange washer as broken. I should have mentioned in my original post. This might be a clue as to what I did wrong.

    Should the flange washer be pressed fit onto the spacer? Should I put the bearing, spacer and washer onto the axle and install (do not press fit flange washer)? Or press the flange washer onto the spacer and then put the bearing spacer/washer onto the axle and install? The 2nd time I installed the bearings I pressed the flange washer onto the spacer.

    When I dissembled the wheel the washer was pressed onto the spacer. Originally I did not replace the flange washer.

    I am freezing the bearings before assembly.

    I'm ordering new parts and trying again.

    Thanks for all the comments! Hopefully I get it right next time...
     
  9. XJ550H

    XJ550H Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    the flange presses onto the spacer it is there so the spacer does not drop when axle is pulled or installed. it keeps 1 end up far enough to lift into position

    install 1 bearing the thread the axle through . it is just to keep spacer alined so it does not cock on you and push against the inner bearing.

    lightly tap bearing into place you will hear a different sound when it has bottomed out
     
  10. PJC750

    PJC750 Member

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    Is there a drawing for xj750 rear with the 2 smaller bearings on left and 1 larger on right...with the flange included?
     
  11. XJ550H

    XJ550H Well-Known Member Premium Member

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  12. PJC750

    PJC750 Member

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    Flange orientation unclear in pic, but #3 presses onto #2 with "punched" edge facing inside of wheel hub, the smooth(flat) side of flange faces Rear brake. Spacer sits in a thin but machined edge in the hub. If you bang up or find your old flange is bad...buy a new/used one, that matches exactly, if you want it to sit in that machined groove. The flange presses on spacer somewhat tight, probably on purpose. But It can still bounce around or off while you drive the Larger bearing. I recommend cking it as you go with pen lite. (would touch of gasket cement on inside dia of flange be awful?).
    What I found is that I 'should not' fully seat the 2 sistered smaller bearings(nearly impossible if installed first). Avoid fully seating 'the pair of smaller bearings' below the mini-bevel on that side of hub.(They can be pressed a mm or 2 below that, which I did once but learned my lesson.) Refer to the forum diagrams were warning against(cockeyed races.))
    Once the 2 small bearings are in, use spacer to gauge height of opposite side of spacer(w flange). Make sure it is not proud of the opposite side machined seat for the future lone larger bearing. Once the 2 smaller bearings were seated properly,I used the back side of my spark plug circular gauge (set on top of the spacer), sliding it back and forth to confirm the spacer is not too 'tall' or encroaching on lg bearing seat.
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: May 29, 2021
  13. XJ550H

    XJ550H Well-Known Member Premium Member

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  14. PJC750

    PJC750 Member

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    upload_2021-5-29_22-26-13.png 81xj750 RW  hubspacer 2.jpg
    This is a diagram for 600....is there a diagram for XJ750? Let me know where. The spacer height in my pic(B) is not proud of the bearing seat(A), as I did not 'seat' the inner bearing of the 2 sistered bearings on the other side. The spacer here is sitting on the race of the inner drive side bearing, ready for me to load the 3rd ,larger brake side bearing. I technically will be able to seat the larger bearing with a hair of space between IT and spacer. When I tighten the axle I am guessing equal force brings the shaft side and brake cover in until properly torqued. The inside contact points around brake cover axle hole is 1-2mm 'proud' , which contacts the center of the larger bearing race. I get that there should be NO pressure on any center races.

    Re Jayrods diagram...the spacer illustrated is longer than the distance between the 2 bearing seats? Is that true? It seems in pictured scenario that the wheel will be slightly askew to the right. I am prob just reading something wrong in the diagram. Thanks guys.
     
    Last edited: May 29, 2021
  15. PJC750

    PJC750 Member

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    Got it...flange oriention perfectly clear now! Should have looked at the how to first instead of pics of rear.
     
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