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Cleaning wheel bearings

dspender

Well Known Member
What type of solvent or name of a product should I use to clean the wheel bearings and wheel axle? Is gasoline ok? I think there must be something more effective or safe. I have taken the main tires and wheels off to rotate the tires and there is brake dust on the bearings and axle that I want to remove.
 
Gasoline would be my last choice. For bikes, I used brake cleaner. I just hate the smell of gas and the blowing up part too.
 
I use mineral spirits. It does not dissolve the grease as fast as gasoline, but is safer. Compressed air is good to blow off the old grease and dry the bearing but be careful spinning it, the cage can expand and/or explode. Just be sure to use fresh for the last cleaning.
 
100LL. Works great, readily available, dries fast, it's the all purpose cleaner. Probably not a good idea to smoke while using it tho.
 
Wipe with paper towels. Spray with brake clean. Rinse with mineral spirits. Inspect. Re-pack with Sta-lube boat trailer grease from Napa Auto parts..... touch it and you will understand.
 
Nothing

I've read here that you shouldn't use a solvent. Simply pack with new grease until all the dirty grease is pushed out.

That's what I've done for three years now.

Michael
 
I've never cleaned mine. I inspect the race. If it's good, I inspect the bearing looking for any shiny flakes. Then I use a bearing grease packing tool and inspect the old grease that is forced out. If all is good, back in they go.

update: I'm Mike's shadow from above.
 
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Compressed air is good to blow off the old grease and dry the bearing but be careful spinning it, the cage can expand and/or explode. .

NEVER spin a bearing with compressed air. If it is not packed with grease, you will put more wear on it in a few seconds than a lifetime of normal use.

As said before, just pack in new grease until the dirty grease is expelled.
 
I've never cleaned mine. I inspect the race. If it's good, I inspect the bearing looking for any shiny flakes. Then I use a bearing grease packing tool and inspect the old grease that is forced out. If all is good, back in they go.

update: I'm Mike's shadow from above.

In my experience with tapered Timkens it's more likely the inner race that will fail first. The roller contact patch is smaller here, (convex/convex) and the speeds are higher (smaller dia.). This is the hardest one to clean and inspect also.
That said, it seems most of us are in there looking and repacking pretty often and things won't get too bad before you catch it on the rollers or outer race.
Tim Andres
 
I've read here that you shouldn't use a solvent. Simply pack with new grease until all the dirty grease is pushed out.

That's what I've done for three years now.

Michael

You are probably right, if there is no dust to get pushed in, that is a good way to just replenish the grease. If they were sealed, the synthetic grease would probably last the life of the plane anyway, so it is not grease, just cleaner grease we need.

If contaminated with brake dust or other dust, full on cleaning is in order. No use in making a grinding slurry. :eek:
 
100LL. Works great, readily available, dries fast, it's the all purpose cleaner. Probably not a good idea to smoke while using it tho.

Years ago when I was stationed at Ft. Polk, LA, I was rebuilding a VW engine using leaded gas as a solvent. My friend walked in the room smoking a cigarette, and I asked him to leave due to the fire danger. He laughed and bet me that I couldn't ignite gas with a cig. I lost that bet. A cig does not burn hot enough to ignite gasoline.

I have won several similar bets since then, but the down turn in smoking has seriously cut into my lunch money fund. ;)

-Marc
 
Years ago when I was stationed at Ft. Polk, LA, I was rebuilding a VW engine using leaded gas as a solvent. My friend walked in the room smoking a cigarette, and I asked him to leave due to the fire danger. He laughed and bet me that I couldn't ignite gas with a cig. I lost that bet. A cig does not burn hot enough to ignite gasoline.
I have won several similar bets since then, but the down turn in smoking has seriously cut into my lunch money fund. ;)
-Marc

BE CAREFUL!!!! While gasoline will not burn, even with an open flame, the fumes directly above the gasoline WILL!!!!
This is NOT something to play around with.
 
Bearings and working with flammable liquids

I like to think I'm a pretty conscientious person when it comes to fire and chemical exposure after worked in petrochem mfg for 15 years and working on cars and planes for the last 35 or so years with no injuries requiring more than a band aid and a few choice expletives. But last winter I was doing some cold weather maintenance - wheel bearing inspection and grease, brake inspections, etc.

After removing the wheel and bearings, I tossed all the greasy parts in a plastic bucket and sumped some 100ll out of the plane in with it. Began sloshing it around to clean the parts. I think I got up to go get a brush and almost stumbled over the propane heater I had running next to me. Not sure how that didn't flash. Guess the cold temps kept the fuel vapors to a minimum, along with a little divine protection. Ironically/stupidly, I have a working parts washer about 30 ft away.

Just thought I'd share. Be careful, and think.
 
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Gasoline

In college I worked 40-60 hrs a week at the local FBO. One day I commented to the boss that the fueler had a cigarette dangling from his mouth as he fueled our newest C150. Boss said it would not ignite and bet a coke that he could put his cig out in the now-full fuel tank. I fell for the coke bet but stayed well back as boss poked his cig into the full tank.

But,even so, it's not for me!

Friend's garage and half a house burned up while he was changing out a car fuel pump.

My own hangar almost burned up when a resident RV was calibrating his fuel gages.

Static can be more of an ignition source than a lit cigarette ..

Ground wires, outside hangars only, proper containers, fire extinguishers handy, and great care when dealing with gasoline!
 
Years ago when I was stationed at Ft. Polk, LA, I was rebuilding a VW engine using leaded gas as a solvent. My friend walked in the room smoking a cigarette, and I asked him to leave due to the fire danger. He laughed and bet me that I couldn't ignite gas with a cig. I lost that bet. A cig does not burn hot enough to ignite gasoline.

I have won several similar bets since then, but the down turn in smoking has seriously cut into my lunch money fund. ;)

-Marc
Dad told me about his first engineering job after finishing college. He was getting the shop tour from the foreman. The foreman had a tin of gasoline sitting on the floor of the shop, and every time they walked past it he'd light a match and flick it into the tin of gasoline. Every time he did that, the match hit the gasoline and was immediately extinguished. That happened several times... until the last time, when there was a whoosh and an impressive fireball.

The shop foreman's point was, just because you might get away with doing something unsafe for a while, it's still not safe and eventually it will blow up on you.

I cleaned wheel bearings with gasoline swirled in the bottom of a can or jar for years. These days I wipe out as much as I can with paper towels, and use mineral spirits instead. I just don't like the gasoline stink, and I don't use avgas.
 
BE CAREFUL!!!! While gasoline will not burn, even with an open flame, the fumes directly above the gasoline WILL!!!!
This is NOT something to play around with.

I agree that's it's not something to play with - BUT - the way my friend proved it to me was he took a 1 gallon plastic bottle with gas in it, put the end over his lit cigarette, then proceeded to smoke the cig to the point that I could see the cherry glow through the plastic bottle! I stood on the other side of the room, but no fuel or vapor ignition occurred.....

In welding school after my Army stint I won a similar bet with a guy who tried to ignite gas in a cup and on a welding table with a cig. He even discharged 02 on the gas from an Oxy bottle! Something about the flash point of gas being above the temp of a burning cigarette.

So I asked my friend that originally taught me this why there are "no smoking" signs in gas stations? He smiled and reminded me that the object used to light a cigarette (lighter or match) would ignite gas. Duh! ;-)

~Marc
 
No gasoline gas fumes fan out on the floor accident waiting to happenp

In a previous life I worked in the wheel and tire shop at Ohare airport for my airline ( a big one) and I spent weeks cleaning and inspecting wheel bearings and we always cleaned, inspected, repacked the bearings. I did this for the 747 dc 10s , dc 8s 767, 727 ,737..

Side note..

I have over 22,000 hrs and Im betting Im the only guy who has changed a tire on all of those planes and been a Capt on some of them too..😁

Cm
 
Bearing packer?

May I ask a dumb question? What kind of bearing packer are people using? I see some of them have Zerk fittings and some don't. Which is better?
 
May I ask a dumb question? What kind of bearing packer are people using? I see some of them have Zerk fittings and some don't. Which is better?

I've tried several of them - and always end up using the palm of my hand fingers to work the grease in, just the way my Grandad taught me a long time ago. The gimmicky ones just don't seem to do the job I'd like. The only change is that I wear nitrile gloves these day, because it makes it easier to clean up my hands afterwards.

On solvents, I had always been taught to use Stoddard Solvent for aviation work, and have done that for years too - but nowadays, its hard to find by that name. I did some research, and it turns out that Stoddard is another name for Mineral Spirits, so that is what I have been using lately. Much less likely to go "boom" than gasoline or Avgas (which I have also used in a pinch, but prefer not to take the risk if I don't have to.
 
I've tried several of them - and always end up using the palm of my hand fingers to work the grease in, just the way my Grandad taught me a long time ago. The gimmicky ones just don't seem to do the job I'd like. The only change is that I wear nitrile gloves these day, because it makes it easier to clean up my hands afterwards.

On solvents, I had always been taught to use Stoddard Solvent for aviation work, and have done that for years too - but nowadays, its hard to find by that name. I did some research, and it turns out that Stoddard is another name for Mineral Spirits, so that is what I have been using lately. Much less likely to go "boom" than gasoline or Avgas (which I have also used in a pinch, but prefer not to take the risk if I don't have to.

Sounds like the way I pack bearings. Dad taught me that way more years ago that I can remember.

Stoddard solvent is my preference if cleaning out all the way. Have been known to use mineral spirits, diesel fuel, and Jet A but NEVER gasoline or 100LL. Did not know mineral spirits and Stoddard solvent was the same thing. Around my airport, people talk about using Varsol. Sounds like we all use the same thing but has different names.
 
The 104 flash point safety clean was my favorite in a solvent tank, then emissions regulations started taking over and then 140 flash point, did not clean as well, then the orange juice solvent, then the heated water base with soap and live bugs that eat grease, take the parts out and then they would rust. Then they took our solvent tank away! so now we use cans and cans of brake clean........what fumes? bet you can't guess what state this is.........getting rid of hazard material is expensive. By the time you buy many cans of cleaner, you could probably buy new bearings and pack them.......
 
NEVER spin a bearing with compressed air. If it is not packed with grease, you will put more wear on it in a few seconds than a lifetime of normal use.

As said before, just pack in new grease until the dirty grease is expelled.

That's what the Air Force taught me a long time ago when they were trying to make me into a helicopter mechanic. Both of these.

Re-pack with Sta-lube boat trailer grease from Napa Auto parts..... touch it and you will understand.

That's what I use on my C-180. Works great.

Dave
 
I've tried several of them - and always end up using the palm of my hand fingers to work the grease in, just the way my Grandad taught me a long time ago.

Yep! That's the way I was taught by my Dad and that's the way I still do it.
 
Diesel

I've started using diesel for most parts cleaning. It's much cheaper than mineral spirits; just take an empty gallon oil jug to the service station. If left uncovered when you're not around for a bit, most of the smell goes away.

Cheers, David
RV-6A A&P
 
Stoddard solvent or mineral spirits depending what I have and then rinse with brake cleaner. Always thought having the solvent residue left on the bearing could break down the new grease. Brake clean leaves very little residue.
A lot easier to inspect bearing for pitting if you clean them before packing with fresh grease.
 
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Sounds like mineral spirits and brake cleaner is the ticket. I have so much brake dust from dragging brakes I don't want to just push more grease in. Now working on what is dragging the brakes.
 
Sounds like mineral spirits and brake cleaner is the ticket. I have so much brake dust from dragging brakes I don't want to just push more grease in. Now working on what is dragging the brakes.

Make sure your master cylinders are retuning to the top. If not, correct the bolt alignment. Search for posts on brake drag for other suggestions. Don't succumb to adding springs until you fix the bolt alignment if indeed
they are not returning.
 
Make sure your master cylinders are retuning to the top. If not, correct the bolt alignment. Search for posts on brake drag for other suggestions. Don't succumb to adding springs until you fix the bolt alignment if indeed
they are not returning.

I did the long bolt mod on my 7, but after reinstalling and bleeding the brakes, see that the spring stiffness of the hoses could be the culprit that keep the gentle spring force of the master cylinder from returning fully. The OP might look at that, but the long bolt is a must, IMO.
 
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