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Generic Headset and Bottom Bracket Bearing Press
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29-05-2018 3:00pm#1
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07Lapierre wrote: »A wooden broom handle (cut to size) and a Mallet!
A bearing press: one treaded bar, some washers and 3 nuts.
Okay, just trying to picture this. So I assume the threaded bar just needs to be long enough to fit through a headtube and thinner than 24mm so it will get through any bottom bracket. You would get a set of washers which all have to fit around the bar but have different diameters. One nut is placed against a washer at one end and the second nut against a washer at the other end. Tighten whichever one is easiest.
Is this broadly correct ? And why 3 nuts ?
For extraction would the width of the broom not need to be specific to the job ?0 -
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harringtonp wrote: »For extraction aren't both ends usually the same width with the diameter inside the ends wider and it this wider circumference that you need to apply even pressure to. In other words something that requires the likes of:
https://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/park-tool-press-fit-bottom-bracket-bearing-tool-set-bbt-90.3-42905
How does a broom handle top do this ?
Easy... You hit it really hard!
Actually i just used a thin piece of wood a tapped gently one side of the bearing cup (a headset), then the other side, and repeated around the bearing cup and out it came. Maybe i was just lucky, but it worked for me.
The link above is the correct tool for the job and is a much better option.
I've only used a bit of wood on headset cups as i was too impatient to order the correct tool online. 0 -
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DIY bearing presses will certainly work. Some/many people swear by them and don't see the appeal of inevitably expensive purpose-made tools for the job, some see DIY options as a temporary stopgap until in a position to get the latter. Personally I'm falling more into that second camp these days.
Much like anyone else, out of necessity over the years that I've been tinkering with bikes I've relied on all sorts of bodges and home-made tools to get me by. It can be very satisfying to concoct your own tool, as well as being very cost effective obviously. But inevitably there is some degree of compromise and/or pain and/or risk involved, and certainly for me my patience has started to run short with some of the more awkward tasks that are made more awkward for not having exactly the right tool.
As one example, using old/removed bearings as the surface to bear against the new bearing while pushing it in can be tedious - if it's not lined up correctly you are likely to damage the new bearing and perhaps risk damaging what you are pushing it into if it racks even a little. Care and attention are usually enough to avoid that, but my reserves of patience are not what they used to be when it come to fiddling with what tend to be multi-part tools (one hand to hold the washers and bearing in line with each other, another hand to tighten the nut on the home-made press, another hand to try to stop the threaded rod from turning with the nut, another hand to pick up the tool you dropped while focused on something else, another hand to shake a fist at the sky, etc.).
As another example, while installing new bearings in a hub a few months ago, using a hammer and an old screwdriver to tap it in, on the very last hammer blow the screwdriver slipped and I drove it into the dust cap. At 15euro per bearing that's an expensive moment's inattention. I packed the bearing with more grease (it wasn't a calamity after all, it was an "opportunity"!) and pushed the (dented) dust cap back in place, and I try not to think too much about it though I know I'll have to replace it again soon enough.
Things that can act as bearing presses:
* Threaded rod, plus nuts and washers, as mentioned. Readily available in various diameters for different tasks (headset, bottom bracket, hubs, ...), and you can cut it to your desired length(s).
* A long quick-release skewer, plus washers. Best suited to pressing bearings into hubs, could work with something larger like a headset in a pinch but might be hard work. Can be hard to get the pressure "even" though, depends on the quality of the skewer to some extent.
* Drifts, plus a hammer. You can use a screwdriver, though I'd use this as a last resort personally, or you can buy a cheap socket set and pick a socket that matches the size of bearing. Whether screwdriver or socket, apply to appropriate part of new bearing (depending on whether you are pushing the bearing into a recess or pushing it onto a spindle), and have at it with the hammer. You can also buy purpose-made drift sets (here is one from Wheels Manufacturing: LINK)
* Purpose-made bearing presses. Having looked at the options here recently my personal preference would be for brands like Enduro and Wheels Manufacturing (one source of their economy one: LINK). I'm sure the Park Tools ones are good too but I've become less enamoured with them as a brand. This is clearly the pricy option but value for money is subjective and I now find myself looking at this category first. There are many many cheaper brands too of course, but personally I'm willing to spend more for tools I'll have more faith in.
Things that can act as bearing removers:
* Drifts, as above, plus a hammer. Or a screwdriver plus hammer, but obviously that will require more care and attention when using it close to carbon parts (head tube, b/b shell, etc.). If removing sealed bearings from a hub, you may be able to use the axle as a drift, but best to use a non-metal hammer (and caution) for this.
* 2- or 3- legged bearing pullers might suit depending on the type and location of the bearing.
* For some bearings you might be able to work a bearing press into a position to press the old bearings out.
* Blind bearing pullers. They are sized for specific bearings, you can buy them individually (from Wheels Manufacturing for one) or you can buy a set (for example: LINK). Again, the good quality tools here are not cheap so it all depends on what you consider value for money. Puller sets are just slide hammers so they are still a "brute force and ignorance" approach to removing bearings but at least they allow you to focus that force in the right place, and I'm happier belting out the bearings in my PowerTap hub with one of these than I ever was when I used a screwdriver.
When it comes specifically to hub bearings, it's worth looking at some of the online MTB forums for ideas on brands to choose (or even DIY approaches). Downhill MTBs in particular can have various fiddly bearings around the rear suspension pivots so the MTB community tend to be quite familiar with methods and tools to remove and replace them. ...give me a set of Enduro tools (LINK <-- g'wan, click on it, you know you want to!) any day though, life feels too short for certain bodges these days 0 -
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I've successfully used a basic Expansion Bolt such as the below - available in most good hardware/builders providers - for removing wheel bearings where you cannot access one side to drift the bearing out with screwdriver/hammer. It relies on an interference fit in the face of the inner ring, which is a less than ideal compared to the proper tool that would have tines to grab the vertical side of the inner ring - but it does work.0
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