How to clean wheel bearings??

And for heaven's sake, whatever you do, DO NOT use gasoline..

you'll die..

:)

P.S. I use gasoline, and always in a well ventilated area (outside)

Looks anything goes and anything works when it comes to repacking the bearings. So from what I read you can or not clean the bearings before repacking. You can repack them by hand or a by machine. Perhaps, those bearings are a lot more resilient than we think.

I take the old bearings and place them in a plastic bag. I then place the bag in the trash, open the boxes the new bearings are in, rinse them with brake cleaner and pack. By the time you purchase the solvent, dispose of the solvent and all the other trouble involved with cleaning the bearings you are almost in to new bearings. Actually I need to modify my instructions. I always have a set of bearings and a hub ready to go for all my trailers. I replace one hub assembly and then clean the other hub and install the new set of packed bearings. Why a spare hub? If I have a bearing failure on the road I can replace the hub almost as fast as I can change a flat tire and then replace the failed bearings at our next extended campground stay. I will always have a minimum of one complete ready to go hub when I am on the road.
Randy

WILDEBILL wrote:

westend wrote:

K6DKO wrote:
Do I need to soak the bearings in kerosene to get them clean? If so how long?

About 10 seconds if you plan to get your hands on them.

??? What are you talking about???
Bill

What are you not understanding?
I've never seen or heard of anyone merely soaking a bearing in any solvent until they're clean. If the term "soaking" is the same as a parts washing machine, then, yes, there will be some time duration involved. I would assume since the OP is asking how to clean bearings he doesn't own a machine.

If he does decide to clean them and if he uses kerosene, the best method is to use a parts brush and roll the bearings by hand to remove grease. I would usually follow up with a rag.

As someone else posted, I don't clean them anymore except to remove any excess old grease for inspection. I use a bearing packer and push in new grease until the old is pressed out. MO is that these hub bearings are not close enough in tolerance and have sufficient hardness that heroic cleaning methods aren't necessary. Should say that I don't operate my running stock in terribly harsh environments. If I was rock climbing or did a lot of desert travel, I might clean up everything as I don't like dirt in moving parts.

BTW, axle grease is one of the nicest skin softeners made. :B

Cobra21 wrote:
One other big tip while doing this. Wear nitril gloves. They work great for
this mess. They don't rip and you won't have to clean your hands all the time.

Brian

X2-these gloves are a God-send for whatever way you decide to do bearing work-not to mention almost everything maintenance related!

Mineral spirits. Far safer than others mentioned above. Lacquer thinner and gasoline have a very low flash point. Mineral spirits has a high flash point and leaves no residue.

One other big tip while doing this. Wear nitril gloves. They work great for
this mess. They don't rip and you won't have to clean your hands all the time.

Brian

Don't clean them. If you use solvent they will only get dirtier. Just get a bearing packer and pump new grease into them until clean grease flows. You will never get the contaminated grease out of a bearing without heated solvent. Then it is a multiple step process to remove the grit. Just pump in new grease.
MM49

WILDEBILL wrote:

westend wrote:

K6DKO wrote:
Do I need to soak the bearings in kerosene to get them clean? If so how long?

About 10 seconds if you plan to get your hands on them.

??? What are you talking about???
Bill

Soaking won't clean. Swish them around and use a small brush.

Why clean them? New bearings, grease, replace, and hope you did it correctly. Good luck.