# Bearing removal..



## EFMax (Aug 20, 2008)

I would like to repaint my frame. it has a series of suspension points that have bearings, of which I have a complete set of replacement bearings for the whole bike.. what I would like to know, is how do people go about removing the old bearings, is their a tool or something.. (on my bottom bracket, Hope have sold me a bearing removal kit - but that is just for their stuff).. is it brute force or is there a more smarter way of removing the little blighters.. cheers..


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## smdubovsky (Apr 27, 2007)

Depends on your bottom bracket type. Which kind d'ya got?


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## Monte (Dec 20, 2003)

how to remove the suspension pivot bearings depends on the frame. what is it? pictures of the suspension pivots would help too.


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## EFMax (Aug 20, 2008)

smdubovsky said:


> Depends on your bottom bracket type. Which kind d'ya got?


The BB is already sorted as I have the HOPE tool to remove these, it is the other bearings that I am interested in, thanks..

This is a close liking to my frame's suspension points..









As you can see, there are four points where there are bearings that I would like to remove from behind the screw points that you can see here.. (the two around the BB and the one by the seat post and the one near the shock)

Is there not a tool that is designed solely for bearing removal or would a tapered cylindrical piece of pipe do the job


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## bobbotron (Nov 28, 2007)

EFMax said:


> The BB is already sorted as I have the HOPE tool to remove these, it is the other bearings that I am interested in, thanks..
> 
> This is a close liking to my frame's suspension points..
> 
> ...


There are things called bearing pullers, for pulling bearings out. I don't know specifically what you need for your frame, but hopefully some one here will chime in.


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## EFMax (Aug 20, 2008)

Ok thanks,, I was searching for bearing removers but as soon as I put in bearing pullers, I got the info I needed, cheers for the help..


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## smdubovsky (Apr 27, 2007)

You're going to find bearing pullers may not work. I would hope most bikes put a center tube between the inner races to keep the bolts from loading them sideways when the bolts are tightened. Then probably can't get the jaws of even a small pilot bearing puller in there. May have to use punches creatively.


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## icecreamjay (Apr 13, 2004)

Warning: Hacker mechanic content-

I replaced the bearings on my K2 lithium and it was hell. I had no bearing puller and there was a sleeve in between the bearings, so I couldn't use a punch to push them out from the opposite side. I destroyed the bearings by ripping the seals out then pushing all the balls to one side so I could work them out one by one, then removed the inner race. Then all that was left to do was to dremel the remaining race out of the frame. It was a major pain in the ass and I scuffed up my frame where there was a bit of dremel to frame contact. I did eventually get all the bearings replaced and now its smooth as new.

I really don't know how else you could have removed them. The bearing pulling tools I saw online were very expensive and even if I could have gotten a good grip on the inner race surface I'm not sure I could have pulled them out. Good Luck.


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## davesauvageau (Jan 8, 2010)

These blind bearing remover tools work really well!


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## EFMax (Aug 20, 2008)

Thanks for that... that kit is the sort of thing I would expect a shop to have, so that is all good, cheers..


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## Jon Edwards (Aug 20, 2004)

Never met a bike shop that *didn't* use the age old "big hammer, punch, loads of brute force and pig ignorance" technique to remove old bearings.

Putting in the new ones, they'll usually have something approximating the right tools.


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## 11 Bravo (Mar 12, 2004)

Depending on how the suspension parts are made, you can usually get the bearings out with an Allen head bolt and a socket or stack of washers.

One side of the bearing bore will be large enough to insert the bearing, ie, the hole is as big as the outer race. The other side usually has a smaller hole, large enough for the pivot bolt to go through and some additional clearance, but smaller than the outside race. This forms a shoulder to seat the bearing against in the bearing bore, or "pocket".

Almost always, if you get an Allen head bolt that fits the inner bore of the bearing, the head will be small enough to pass through the small side of the bearing bore. Get a socket or a piece of pipe with good square ends that the outside race of the bearing will slip into, ideally just long enough for the bearing to fit into. A stack of washers with an inside hole big enough for the outer race of the bearing to fit into will work also, but is clumsy to use. You just need a cup for the bearing to pull into. You usually need one heavy washer large enough to cover the cup, but with a center hole small enough to fit the bolt nicely. If you cant find a washer like that, you can drill a hole in a piece of flat strap or something and make it.

Get an Allen head bolt long enough to go all the way through the bearing and the cup. Insert it from the small bore side of the bearing bore, put the cup on the side with the large bore. Put a nut on the end of the Allen bolt. Stick an Allen wrench in the bolt and hold the nut with a wrench and tighten the bolt. As it tightens it will pull itself toward the nut and push the bearing into the cup as it does. 

Sounds a little complicated as I wrote it out, but it is very simple, very cheap and works very well.

In blind holes, the kit davesauvageau posted up should work very well, but I can't think of any blind holes I have ever run into on bike suspension linkages.

Your bearing are all in the linkage parts and not in the frame itself, aren't they?


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## jSatch (Aug 2, 2006)

11 Bravo said:


> In blind holes, the kit davesauvageau posted up should work very well, but I can't think of any blind holes I have ever run into on bike suspension linkages.


unfortunately, Specialized may be the exception.

horst/pivot bearings by the rear axle dropout. there's two bearings with a spacer in the middle but there's also a small lip in the middle to stop them pushing straight through. so they need to be pulled out, although i have read of pushing out from the middle (but not without difficulty).


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