Repacking bearings

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Paulie

Paulie

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Arrma RC's
I've been bashing in the snow with my Kraton and the Avid Revolutions just can't keep the crud out, especially the rear hubs. I popped off the rubber seal, blasted them clean with the CRC red can. I found this grease at the auto store. It feels to be about the right viscosity for these small bearings, not too thick. I packed them well and reinstalled. Hopefully I'll get a bit more life out of them. Even though new bearings are $1 each, I'll repack these until they fall apart.

"Engine Assembly lube is a lithium 12 hydroxy stearate based grease which adheres to metal surfaces to prevent destructive metal to metal contact. Prevents friction, galling and wear on all types of engines."
 

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Update.
When I repacked my bearings, I filled them up all the way, it took a bit of work to get them packed well and the yellow seals popped right back on with no issues. As I run them, grease leaks out from around the seals. This is a good thing. It keeps contaminants from getting in. I have 4 packs through my Kraton and no gritty sounds. They are holding up even better now. I highly recommend packing any new bearings with grease before installation to save them and the hassle of tearing down after every run to clean them out.
 
Anyone ever try white lithium grease in the spray can,with a bearing blaster? Just saw this and had a hmmm moment. I wonder if it would fill them up?
 
I used to use that stuff on my bicycle bearings. The problem I found was that it foamed up and left air pockets.
 
I do use Stihl weed whacker white lithium grease on the ring/pinion gears inside my differential cases. It eventually oozes out around the bearings, but that keeps contaminants for getting in.
 
I'm coming back to this to update my experience. It has been about a month and a half of driving through snow, and mud on the warmer days.

I had to replace my rear differential housing again from a few too many bad landings on the spoiler. I decided to rebuild the rear differential and all the bearing too, while everything was disassembled. I have to report that none of the bearings were crunchy or contaminated at all. Prior to my grease repacking job, I would literally get one run with the factory greased bearings and they would be crunchy, especially the inner rear hubs and this was with the AVID Revolution bearings. Now, there was still a thin layer of grease inside the bearings after a month and a half of RC bashing and they were still smooth.

I again, went through the process of carefully prying off the rubber seals and cleaning the bearings with CRC Brakleen, the red can. When I repack the bearings, I fill them with as much of the grease as I can, then I put an axle stub in an electric drill and spin the bearing to get the grease worked in. I find I have to repeat the process 3-4 times to get the bearing entirely packed. I pop the seal back on and reinstall.

My experience has found that the factory grease does not hold up at all. There is not much in there and it is a little too thick. There are many people who say, "Just replace the bearings, they are only $1." Yes, they may be $1, but to have to tear down my Kraton every single run due to contaminated bearings is a waste of time, which equals $$$ in my books. If you spend the effort to clean out and repack new bearings before you install them, you may be pleased with long term results as I have been.
 
How hard or difficult is it to remove the seal on the bearings. What tools do you use. Thank uou C or your time..
 
Armydad72 said:
How hard or difficult is it to remove the seal on the bearings. What tools do you use. Thank uou C or your time..
Click to expand...


Take a very pointy hobby knife and you can carefully pry them off by sticking the knife point on an outside edge. The seals are metal but the yellow coating is the rubber. You can bend them flat again when you pry them off, but you don't want to damage the yellow seal coating. I've done the same ones twice with no problems.
 

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