Front wheel bearing--revisited

[TRHOD]

Ok, I know we've discussed this before and I don't mean to beat a dead horse here, BUT..........

I replaced my front bearings last spring with pivot works sealed bearings. The stock bearings weren't bad, I wanted to replaced them as a preventative maintainence because I do some mud ridding and also a lote of plowing. I thought I should change them out, because I probably was on borrowed time.

Well, last week I was tearing apart my brake drums to clean and regrease the seals, and found my right front bearing is SHOT!!!

Now I thought the pivot works bearing were supposed to be better than the oem bearings. How could I have ridden on the stock bearings for 5 years, and in less than a year the replacement bearing failed. One thing that may have influenced this is I ran the stock dunlop tires on the foreman until about 2 1/2 years ago. So I only ran the stock bearings with the itp mudlites for about 1 1/2years. And had these tires on the whole time the pivot work bearings were installed.

I guess the thing that is burning in the back of my head, is it possible that I installed the pivot works bearings wrong??? Could I have over greased the bearing and blown the seals out???

Or is this more than likely just another example of the foreman's achilles heel (the front wheel bearings), and I just got real lucky with the stock bearings??

I'm just a little frusterated about this. I had such good luck with the first set of bearings, it seems strange that these have failed already.

Also, should I change out both sides again, or just the failed side??

Thanks for your thoughts.

Blessings,

[MuddnMason]

Ted, from what I have read, OEM bearings maybe your best bet for longevity. I am currently running Xtreme Products Bearings, I havent rode but very little since I installed them, but I'll give a report sometime. I have read somewhere that pivot works just dont last long either. I know all balls are cruddy. The FWBs are most definitely the achilles heel of the hondas, but of course, mud shows no mercy on ANY seals either.

IMHO experience Ted, you will probably have to replace both bearings. If the other isnt ready for replacement now, it is about ready.

[TechForeman]

it would also be best to go ahead and replace both while you are in there. never hurts to be safe.

[TRHOD]

Phil and Nick,

thanks for the response.

This pretty much stinks. I was under the impression that the pivot works bearings were supposed to be better than OEM. I guess this is an instance that proves that wrong.

I may try and take the pivot works bearing to a local retailer and see if I can get Timken bearings for the front wheels. After all the Timken Co that makes the bearings is about 10mi from my house. No more pivot works for me.

Do you think it is possible I did something wrong on the install to make the bearings fail???


Blessings,

[Jake]

It's possible that one got buggered up when you were putting it in. It's hard to do without knowing it though.

Did you pry the sealed bearing seals out and grease inside? If so, then it's extremely difficult to get those seals back into the keeper grooves in the bearing. That may have been an issue.

Did you use new OEM seals? IMO, that's the best way that there is to keep bearings good. I've been through a few sets, and in my experience that seems to be the best way. The thin seal on the bearings seems to do well at keeping smaller stuff out (dirty water), but big stuff seems to eat away at it, where as the factory seals keep the bigger stuff (sand) out, but not the finer stuff. They seem to work good as a pair when both are installed and up to par.

Tires are (IMO) the biggest killer for the wheel bearings. not the diameter, but the tread. Hammering on the bearing with the full weight of the bike each time a tread lug rolls around.

The thing with mud or dirt in a bearing, is it takes only a piece of something to get in there. Something can happen at one point that is never repeated, but once abnormal wear starts in the bearing, it will progress on it's own, with no further outside influence. It could have been a one time thing that happened to it on the first ride after you put it in.

Were it me (and years ago it was me), I'd suck it up as part of owning a Foreman, but keep an eye for trends (like if the same one fails again) and see what works better when you put in a new one.

[TRHOD]

You know, I thought the pivot works kits that I got had the outer seals in it, but since you all keep bringing it up, I guess I can't remember now.

I thought I remembered putting seals on both sides of the knuckle, but my mind isn't so good with remembering.

I think I'm gonna go back to the OEM bearings and I'll make sure to get the outer seals this time.

Again, thanks for taking the time. I was hoping that this wasn't something I did wrong, and it seems like it isn't.

Blessings,

[MuddnMason]

Just about all bearing kits I have saw come with both seals, however, I am not familiar if they are an OEM part or just a generic replacement. Ted, for whats its worth, check service honda out for the complete knuckle assembly. Maybe worth your time to just by a whole new knuckle if the prices are still low. ~$60 a knuckle last time I checked.