Rear Bearing Cleaning and Lube

1

I was just wondering the best and most acceptable way to clean and re lube the rear bearings.

I have been spraying with brake cleaner and then adding Synthetic 5w?

Some have said soak in gasoline then RE PACK with grease?

2

If you’re really OCD, soaking and re-packing with grease is good. However, I’ve never had any issues with flushing them out with starting fluid (brake cleaner eats the powder coat, starting fluid doesn’t) and lubing with Tri-Flow before each run.

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3

Cleaning wise whatever you fave solvent is plus some compressed air is good. Washing in a ultrasonic cleaner can help too.

You’ll get a ton of opinions on lube. I’m not super keen on triflow and other lubes that have very little shear resistance. Sprayable white lithium grease, applied lightly is a good compromise.

Motor oil would be fine too I’m sure, but it’s more likely to flow out of there.

4

Agreed.

I’ve found that SeaFoam Deep Creep works even better (double benefit: Good performance and hilarious name.)

5

I assume that this only applies to bearings with removable seals?

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6

From what I’ve seen, the bearings with the non-removable seals can still benefit from a soak and lubrication. However, it is obviously hard to really get in there. The bearings I have on my kart are ‘sealed’ but are so run in that as I turn the axle and apply tri-flow near the seals on the bearing it will seep in there.

I’ve also worked with guys that have open bearings, or the seals are crushed/messed with. While not ideal, for lubrication it is a plus, assuming you don’t go off the track much…

7

Ok. It does seem a bit strange, since although the cleaning fluid probably will seep in through the non openable seal, I can’t see how I’m supposed to get any grease of favourable quality back in. It does have to be reasonably thick grease, doesn’t it?

8

Or does white lithium grease get through the seal? I assume that this method requires the bearings to be flushed and regreased quite often?

9

The bearings on my Praga actually have a grease hole in the outer race

10

The grease packed in the bearing is meant for the lifetime of use. Leave it be unless you’ve ran them through water/mud and they’re making horrendous noises. In that case, replace them.

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