Rad Rover 5 Front wheel bearings

[ChrisG]

My front wheel has developed an annoying squeak that I can't make go away. I've narrowed it down to the front axle bearings (or so it seems). Have chatted online with Rad several times in past few days to trouble shoot, but they aren't any help. Can't advise me how to service the bearings. Pretty sure they need lubrication.
Has anyone experienced this issue? Does anyone have instructions for me on how to disassemble and lube?

[JimInPT]

Are you sure it's a bearing squeak?  Might be the same problem I had a couple years ago on my MiniST2's front wheel and if so, it's an easy fix.  Here's a link to a recent post and photo I made about it for another forum user:

https://www.radowners.com/index.php/topic,9569.msg23491.html#msg23491

If it turns out this isn't your problem, no harm done and it just takes a couple of minutes to try.

[ChrisG]

Yes I've ruled out all those possibilities already while working with the Rad rep. Thank's though for the thoughts.

[Radding Along]

There are dust seals over the bearings. I have found multiple instances of the dust seal rubbing on the metal while spinning due to the rubber being dry.

Pry the rubber cover up a little and push grease into the bearing. Then make sure the rubber cover has a thin layer of grease all the way around on the underside.

[ChrisG]

Yes I?ve already tried that and ruled it out.

[Dr.JB]

Hi, Chris and I also have a RR5 and in upgrading the front brakes, was shocked to discover the level of play in the front wheel bearings; I can?t imagine that they?re not completely shot, given the amount of movement and am already researching hub replacements, with sealed cartridge bearings. In my research, however, I discovered the following thread, which should answer your question:

https://www.radowners.com/index.php/topic,1522.msg7611.html#msg7611

Hope this helps,

John

[handlebar]

Hi, Chris and I also have a RR5 and in upgrading the front brakes, was shocked to discover the level of play in the front wheel bearings; I can?t imagine that they?re not completely shot, given the amount of movement and am already researching hub replacements, with sealed cartridge bearings. In my research, however, I discovered the following thread, which should answer your question:

https://www.radowners.com/index.php/topic,1522.msg7611.html#msg7611

Hope this helps,

John

It takes me back to my teens. This refreshed my memory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozAQxbd1euU

I used to take my hubs apart to clean and grease the bearings. I don't understand why the guy in your link said a sheet-metal wrench wouldn't work or why he needed four wrenches.

I never found loose bearings on my bikes, but I often found and fixed them on other people's bikes. I think maybe they come from the factory that way, just as a new wheel may need some spokes tightened. I think when they adjust bearings on a new wheel, they may overlook a little play because they're in a hurry.

[Dr.JB]

Handlebar, I?ve had my RR5 for three seasons, now and this is the first I?ve noticed how sloppy the front bearings are; whatever the reason, it?s not from an initial poor setup, as it was not sloppy before. I will have to take it apart and see, but, if the race is as damaged as pictured in the other thread (for this problem to exist, the race must be very soft), I may replace the hub with one having cartridge bearings, especially considering how bad the roads are around here and how much of a pounding I tend to give it.

[handlebar]

Handlebar, I?ve had my RR5 for three seasons, now and this is the first I?ve noticed how sloppy the front bearings are; whatever the reason, it?s not from an initial poor setup, as it was not sloppy before. I will have to take it apart and see, but, if the race is as damaged as pictured in the other thread (for this problem to exist, the race must be very soft), I may replace the hub with one having cartridge bearings, especially considering how bad the roads are around here and how much of a pounding I tend to give it.

I see you're right. If they often came from the factory loose, I would have seen it on somebody's new bike. I've seen it only on bikes that were three or more years old. As the axles all turned smoothly with my fingers after adjustment, it looks as if the problem was wear on the balls without pitting of cups or cones.

The bike I put the most miles on was 15 years old when I bought it, paying twice what it had cost new. I can see why I never had trouble with its bearings or those on any other bike I owned. Like the guy in the video said, I'd clean and grease them.

I must be getting negligent. I've had my Radrunner nearly 3 years without checking wheel bearings. My Radmission is only a year old, and it concerns me more because lately it has been oily on both sides of the front hub. It's as if the lube on the bearings has turned runny. In the morning I'll check to see if I have a wrench for the cones. If I do, cleaning, measuring to buy replacement balls, and lubing should be a snap. I think I can have the wheel back in service in an hour. If I procrastinate, the bearings might run dry. I could get squeaks and play and if I put it off longer, pitting of the cups and cones.

Have you ever seen oil on your hub? Maybe runny lube is the underlying cause of problems with RadRover 5 bearings.

[Dr.JB]

Hello Handlebar &

It seems you were partly right, maybe! lol I disassembled the front hub wheel bearings and found them to be dry. When I looked at the races, they were fine, no damage, just a slight uneven wear mark on each one. Everything looked clean, like new, really and so I just added grease and in doing so, saw that there were two balls that were out of place and inside the inner cylinder. I assume I must have knocked them out when I pulled out the shaft and while that was possible on one side, it was less likely to be the case on the other (as the ball needed to travel in the opposite direction). In any case, I got to wondering if it was not the case that when they initially assembled the hub with bearings and spindle, if they hadn?t knocked one or both of those bearing balls out of place? When I reassembled, I was careful to leave just the slightest bit of play in the bearings, mounted the wheel and to my absolute delight and surprise, no more wheel wobble! So, it must have always been this way, I assume. It?s good to go, now, won?t bother with a hub replacement!

I?m happy! lol

Thanks for your input!

John

[handlebar]

Hi John,

Is yours a quick release hub? I bought a 15mm spanner for my cones and, full of confidence, took the wheel off to check my bearings.  Uh-oh, my quick-release hub complicates it because it would be harder to clamp the far end of the axle to keep it from turning when I tightened the lock nut against the cone. Maybe that's why the guy in the other thread used four wrenches.

I put the wheel back on and turned to the internet. I didn't read any tips on holding the axle still, but I'll bet I can drill and tap a block of wood to screw the far end of the axle into. I did read that adjusting bearings in a quick release hub may be frustrating because tightening the quick release compresses the axle enough to make the bearings a little tighter. Now I'm not so confident.

I remember why loose front bearings used to be so common. In the middle of the hub was a springy clip that covered an oil hole. You'd slide he clip aside ad squirt in a few drops of oil. They probably needed oiling pretty often, and most people never did it. Looseness probably meant the dry bearings had worn. I'd oil and tighten, but if I'd known more, I would have replaced the balls.

New balls might get you longer life from your hub and cones. The advice I've seen is that there should be a little space between balls, and one too many is worse than one too few. I want to service mine so I can have the right size on hand. I thought I'd be ordering balls measured in millimeters, but balls measured in fractions of an inch seem to be very common.

[Dr.JB]

Hello Handlebar &

Yes, mine is a quick release. I didn?t have too much trouble disassembling the hub, but, reassembling was a little tricky - it is near impossible to get a cone wrench behind the seal. So, what I did was I loosely located the inner nut and then tightened the outer nut to it so that they latched together; at this point, the bearings were still loose. I installed the wheel with the quick release (not too tightly, just enough to hold the wheel in place) and then slowly tightened the outer nut, holding the outer nut on the other side. I had the front wheel suspended and wobbled it back and forth as I tighten the outer nuts until there was almost no play remaining, just a little. It worked out great, runs smooth, am happy!