THE DO'S, DON'TS AND THE WHY'S OF OUR BEARINGS:

CLEANING:
The MicroBlue® coating is not adversely affected by common hydrocarbon-based solvents such as brake clean, carb cleaner or parts solvents. Do stay away from water-based cleaners as many of them are very caustic and can harm the coating. We recommend blowing out the bearings, followed by a WD40 flush, compressed air, an application of brake clean, finishing with compressed air.

LUBRICATION:
All bearings need lubrication and should never be run “dry”. As to the type of lubrication, that depends on the application, the load and the environment. Remember, you only have viscosity separating the bearing surfaces, so this is not the time to get too carried away with “thin”. Another consideration is location. If you have a bearing in an axle housing that rarely gets looked at, grease is a better choice. In general, oils are fine for ball bearings (only) in go karts, quarter midgets, bandoleros and so forth. We DO NOT recommend any oils with tapered bearings, unless the hub is designed for it.

For tapered wheel bearings, the choice of grease is not as important as the amount you use. We typically recommend taking a bearing cone in one hand and then apply some grease around the rollers. Then place the bearing into the race and rotate it. When there’s a uniform film covering the rollers and races, you’re done. “Packing” in general is not necessary.

INSTALLATION:
Whenever possible, we advise using heat to remove/install bearings. For cases, housings and covers, simply place in an oven heated to 300-350 deg./F. This will not damage the bearings, cages or seals. DO NOT use a hot plate or torch to apply heat. You will locally overheat things and easily do metallurgical damage. A heat gun can be used, but do not overheat things. Use an IR temp gun to keep track of things.

SET-UP & ADJUSTMENT:

For tapered wheel applications, recommended end play is .001” to .002”. DO NOT allow any pre-load. When spacers are used with ball or angular contact bearings, it is CRITICAL to get the spacing correct. Meaning the balls must contact the ball races EXACTLY in the center. Any offset will quickly result in premature failure. If you’re unsure about things, it’s best to leave them out.

For tapered rear-gear applications, be sure to use much less pinion pre-load. Our bearings will not “loosen up” over time. We recommend two things: One, that total rotating torque to be around 12 in/lbs. with 6 of that on the pinion bearings. Two, in most cases, a pre-load of about .001” will get you very close. If it runs hot, it will be due to excessive pinion pre-load.