free website stats program Wheel Bearings | Harley Davidson Forums

Wheel Bearings

liquid_wrench

Well-Known Member
Put new (Stock Dunlop) front tire on my 2005 Electra Glide last Friday,wheel bearings still look and feel fine to me. Bike only has 46,000 miles on it, I know lots of people say the bearing issue started in 2008 or 2009. So I'll run these till the next tire change. Friends of mine have run these older bearings for more than 100,000 miles. Cleaned everything up good and put a light coat of anti-seize on the axle. Do you guy's change them out with every tire change?
 
How do they feel? Any roughness or grinding? Graunching?
How do they spin? Smoothly? Quietly? Effortlessly? Efficiently?
How do they sound when you spin? No sound is good. Any other rotational sound is bad.

A bearing in good shape will spin smoothly and quietly.
If you can feel, hear, or otherwise detect anything , then they should be replaced.
When you replace tyres it’s a good idea to check bearings and work some appropriate grease into them.
You’ve already got the wheel off. . .
 
You are correct that sealed wheel bearings up to 2007 are good for 100k or more miles. 2008 is when they went to 25mm and the quality went south. Sealed bearings always have resistance to turning and don't spin easily as tapered bearings do.
 
I replace my wheel bearings and Cush drive rear wheel sprocket bearings every time I replace my tires around 18,000 miles as I do a lot of long distance riding. There is no way to check the sealed bearing grease condition and I do not trust the bearing manufacturers quality control. I would rather be safe than sorry. If coast is a factor you can remove the brake calipers and perform an axial side load test iaw shop manual specs prior to removing the tire from bike.
 
Put new (Stock Dunlop) front tire on my 2005 Electra Glide last Friday,wheel bearings still look and feel fine to me. Bike only has 46,000 miles on it, I know lots of people say the bearing issue started in 2008 or 2009. So I'll run these till the next tire change. Friends of mine have run these older bearings for more than 100,000 miles. Cleaned everything up good and put a light coat of anti-seize on the axle. Do you guy's change them out with every tire change?
I got 68k on the front of my 2012 ultra , I lifted the wheel up and checked bearing and seemed good but tire was starting to cup on one side so I changed the bearings . My 97 rk had the tire cup but I could tell that bearing were bad, with the new style bearing couldn't tell so just changed them the rear should last till 100k.
 
liquid_wrench said:
That's what I'm thinking.

'05 model so a couple of replacement options; ceramic, which are bit pricey but much less rolling resistance or SKF cross over; that is if replacing. The OEM wheel bearings in the early models were pretty robust but having said that, with the wheel off at 46K miles and a new tire, I probably would have replaced the bearings just because. Bearings are not expensive and easy to replace if you have the tools.;)
 
Back
Top