[SDminitrucker]

Well the other day i betn the dropouts on my bighit, as well as tore teh derailer in 1/2 and bent the hanger, so i have the bike completley apart and beinging to re-build it while i wait for my rear chainstay to come in. I have 2 simple questions for the moment.


1. All the bearings in the linkages. How and with what do i clean them?

2. In my lower rear linkage somehow mud got insome of the welding gas holes and rattles in there. Any suggestions on getting that **** out?

 

[RYANTHOM!]

First ofall, how old is the bike? Id say if its more than like 2 or 3 years old, with a lot of riding on it, you should consider just replacing the bearings in the linkage. If the bike hasnt been used very hard, or is relitivley new, (im guessing that it does use bearings, not bushings) you can just punch them out with like a socket that fits over them nicely. i wouldnt suggest using a degreaser to clean them, sometimes thats bad, just wipe them off nicely, and put a small amount of grease on them before reinstalling. now, as far as the mud in the linkage, just get some water in there work it around, till theres no more pieces of mud. make sure to use an air compressor to try to dry out the inside before you put it all back together. well, i hope this hella long thing comes in handy- Ryan

 

[mcA896]

use denatured simple green on the bearings. we use it all the time, for everyting in our shop and it works awesome! also, dont bother breasing the bearing as they're most likely sealed. unless they have ports for injecting grease in there, you would be better off just spraying them down with WD-40. BTW, RYANTHOM, i gotta ask. who is that in your avatar?

 

[RhinofromWA]

use denatured simple green on the bearings. we use it all the time, for everyting in our shop and it works awesome! also, dont bother breasing the bearing as they're most likely sealed. unless they have ports for injecting grease in there, you would be better off just spraying them down with WD-40. BTW, RYANTHOM, i gotta ask. who is that in your avatar?

I used to repack bearings all the time on my motorcycle. If it has a rubber seal you can remove it if you are carefull and pack it with new grease.

Hell I even cleaned the old bearings with gas sometimes. Cuts the old grease and flushes out the grime....dry it out and repack. This was on a MX bike and we tend to ride in the water here in WA. We also had a cool bearing greaser. It looked like 2 cones and you would use a grease gun to load the bearing full of grease. WOrked great.

Sealed bearings are serviceable. Next question you look at is how much are new ones and is it worth cleaning them.

 

[SDminitrucker]

WEre talking about different kinds of bearings than the ones you described. Thanks though

 

[RhinofromWA]

WEre talking about different kinds of bearings than the ones you described. Thanks though

If they are like you would find in a roller blade wheel then we are talking about the same type of bearings.

What does a Bighit have for bearings? Not ball bearings?

 

[SDminitrucker]

We also had a cool bearing greaser. It looked like 2 cones and you would use a grease gun to load the bearing full of grease. WOrked great.


THat what you just described was lik ea car bearing

 

[mcA896]

there is no way that you have unsealed bearings in your bighit. we're talking about the same type of bearings. Please try to form complete, understandable sentences. it helps.

 

[SDminitrucker]

I am aware that i do not have unsealed bearings. This guy was telling me about abearing packer and greaser that has 2 cones that attaches to a grease gun. That tool is something you'd similarly use to pack/grease the wheel bearings on a car, Where the rotor sits on the spindle. I was saying that that was not the type of bearings i had.

 

[RhinofromWA]

Describe your bearing to me. I must be confused. I thought Bighits had ball bearings at their pivots....

Curiosity is taking over.

 

[SDminitrucker]

They look like small rollerblade/skateboard bearings. At the main pivot there are big ones.

 

[RhinofromWA]

They look like small rollerblade/skateboard bearings. At the main pivot there are big ones.

If they have a rubber seal it can be removed and you can celan them and regrease them. I have even removed a metal seal before. I would take a small pick tool (almost like a dentist tool) and remove the seal.

They are sealed not unserviceable. Might be easier to jsut get new ones....depends on how bad they are.