Rebuilt wheel hub - still grinding

[funkyrobot]

I'm attempting to do more of my own repairs to my bicycles so thought I'd start by working on my cheap hybrid wheel hubs (Quando branded).

I stripped both the front and back down and found that the back wheel hub is rusty and beyond repair. The front one though seemed ok, so I cleaned out everything (ball bearings, cup, cone etc.) and reassembled.

The wheel now has a slight grind when you spin it and makes a bit of noise. I've adjusted the tightness of the cone so that the hub spins freely and there is now wheel wobble. However, no matter what I do, the wheel seems to have a grind.

When I took it apart the old grease was brown and rusty looking. However, the wheel didn't have this grind. Could it be that by disturbing the old packing it has caused a problem?

Also, the grease I used was the Halfords Bike Hut Teflon stuff (pink in colour). I've since been reading that people recommend using automotive wheel bearing grease or high temp stuff as this is very good.

Does anyone have any ideas about why the wheel now grinds? Could it be a knackered hub or could it just be me not packing it properly (I did put a lot of grease in though)? Or is the Halfords grease not really the best for this application?

I should note here that when the wheel is back on the bike, it does spin quite freely. It just has this little grind that I'm not happy about leaving.

Thanks all.

[shouldbworking]

With loose bearing hubs if the old ball bearings were rusty / nadgered they will have damaged the races they run in, so even new ball bearings will still make a bit of noise. The races aren't normally replacable so time for a new hub.

[funkyrobot]

shouldbworking said:

With loose bearing hubs if the old ball bearings were rusty / nadgered they will have damaged the races they run in, so even new ball bearings will still make a bit of noise. The races aren't normally replacable so time for a new hub.

Thanks.

I'll clean out the better wheel tonight and check again. I thought that the bearings and everything looked ok for one wheel (and it didn't grind before I dismantled it). It may still be worn as you say though because the grease that came out was quite brown and rusty. Cup looked ok too.

Oh well, just making sure it isn't because I'm useless at this sort of thing.

Thanks.

[Justin S]

Check the cones on the axle, as they can pit with rusty grind paste and water ingress. You can use wet and dry and clean the worst up,to get you out of short term trouble, but usually means new cones.
Grease is grease for cheaper hubs. If the surfaces are poor, it wont matter what grease you use.

[Fastpedeller]

funkyrobot said:

Thanks.

I'll clean out the better wheel tonight and check again. I thought that the bearings and everything looked ok for one wheel (and it didn't grind before I dismantled it). It may still be worn as you say though because the grease that came out was quite brown and rusty. Cup looked ok too.

Oh well, just making sure it isn't because I'm useless at this sort of thing.

Thanks.

Has everything gone back exactly as it was dismantled? I'm thinking a spacer/washer arrangement which may have been put back in a different order, leading to scraping on the dustcap?

[funkyrobot]

Fastpedeller said:

funkyrobot said:

Thanks.

I'll clean out the better wheel tonight and check again. I thought that the bearings and everything looked ok for one wheel (and it didn't grind before I dismantled it). It may still be worn as you say though because the grease that came out was quite brown and rusty. Cup looked ok too.

Oh well, just making sure it isn't because I'm useless at this sort of thing.

Thanks.

Has everything gone back exactly as it was dismantled? I'm thinking a spacer/washer arrangement which may have been put back in a different order, leading to scraping on the dustcap?

Yes, everything back as normal. When I took it apart, I placed everything in the order it was removed on a rag. I then cleaned each item and put it back in the relevant position.

The front wheel hub only had the locking nut and cone. The rear wheel had some spacers one side, but that is completely shot.

Incidentally, the cone for the front wheel has a shoulder around/attached to it (I think that is the dust cap). Whereas the rear wheel had cone and separate washer that effectively seals the bearings in. The front wheel setup only has the two parts (cone with shoulder and locking nut) for each side, so I couldn't get that wrong.

I'll get some thicker grease from Halfords later (automotive stuff) and will clean down and try again. It could be a shot cup or something so I'll take a look in finer detail. I'll probably get some pics up on here too if the problem persists.

Thanks.

[funkyrobot]

Justin S said:

Check the cones on the axle, as they can pit with rusty grind paste and water ingress. You can use wet and dry and clean the worst up,to get you out of short term trouble, but usually means new cones.
Grease is grease for cheaper hubs. If the surfaces are poor, it wont matter what grease you use.

Ok, thanks. I checked the cup on the hub quite a lot, but maybe a more thorough clean of the cones is in order.

[funkyrobot]

Just to add - whilst doing the rebuild I only adjusted the nut and cone on one side of the axle. In order to keep the position on the wheel correct, I only undid one end and didn't touch the nut and cone on the other.

I'm wondering if using a vice to secure the axle by the end I didn't adjust has maybe loosened the nut a bit. I could always try nipping it up later and checking. However, I didn't notice any play in the wheel when I had adjusted everything and put it back on the bike.

[WinstonWolf]

funkyrobot said:

Just to add - whilst doing the rebuild I only adjusted the nut and cone on one side of the axle. In order to keep the position on the wheel correct, I only undid one end and didn't touch the nut and cone on the other.

I'm wondering if using a vice to secure the axle by the end I didn't adjust has maybe loosened the nut a bit. I could always try nipping it up later and checking. However, I didn't notice any play in the wheel when I had adjusted everything and put it back on the bike.

It doesn't matter if you move the cones either side, you're just centering the axle.

How clean is clean? Everything needs to be squeaky clean.

Inspect the races with your finger tips, you'll feel any imperfections. If you can feel it you'll hear it

[funkyrobot]

Thanks Mr Wolf. I guess I need to double check things properly.

[P-Jay]

I'd guess the bearings are worn, most you can tell by the colour, anything less than almost mirror shiny means they're for the bin - they can look completely smooth if they've worn uniformly but be wasted. Loose BB's are pennies anyway.

[funkyrobot]

P-Jay said:

I'd guess the bearings are worn, most you can tell by the colour, anything less than almost mirror shiny means they're for the bin - they can look completely smooth if they've worn uniformly but be wasted. Loose BB's are pennies anyway.

This is the thing, they do look mirror shiny. However, I've had the bike for about 4 years and have never done this job before. They may just be worn or something else is worn. Thanks.