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Hey guys, just wondering what you guys are doing with your bearings? For some reason I seem to go through 3/16 bearings every time I put a car on the track. I am not using ceramic bearings but obviously I am either buying the wrong bearings or not doing something right when it comes to care.

I have extensively used Avid bearings in all my cars, but I have always had to run with at least 3 - 4 spares when at the track.

My B4 eats bearings like nobodies business. My 2wd short bus is now doing the same thing.

Any thoughts or inputs would be appreciated.

About the only thing that'll kill bearings that fast is excessive preload. In the case of the 3/16"x3/8" Associated bearings, there should be NO preload. In fact, they should have a little bit of end play (.001"-0.004").

which bearings are you eating, rear hub, front wheels, tranny?

Rear hubs are the problem. I could understand if my wheels were severely out of balance. I wash my tires drying before mounting. Maybe residual water us getting in the bearings.

maybe take the seals out and look at the balls under a mag lens to see if it's pitting, meaning corrosion, or galled, no lubrication, or scored, which would be too much preload.

Rear hubs are the problem.

Please take a picture with the wheel off, and of the inside of the wheel. I assume you're still running the 1/16" pins, no hex adapters? If so, I've seen where either the pin slots in the wheel are too deep, or where all the axle shims are inboard, allowing the wheel itself to preload the bearings when tightened. The pin should be what the wheel seats against, not the bearing race.

You can get those RPM hubs too with oversized bearings My brother had that problem with his B4/T4 and ever since he switched, no problems.

What kind of bearings? Metal or rubber seals? I'm surprised because I run my bearings hard in snow and dirt but haven't had any issues at all

I also used to munch through 3/16 x 5/16 flanged Avids. I never figured out why. The problem went away by itself. Now that I said this I'll probably be cleaning bearing balls out of my 6 gear within the week.
They're just not very tough.

I am running Avid Revolutions in the rear carriers, rubber on one side, metal on the other.

What are you guys using for lube if any when rebuilding. I typically don't lube the bearings, just clean them off with a dry brush.

Disappointing to hear that the Avid bearings, especially the Revolutions ones are not durable.

I wonder why? I have a set that I haven't used yet - still running my Boca bearings

Seabass wrote:I am running Avid Revolutions in the rear carriers, rubber on one side, metal on the other.

What are you guys using for lube if any when rebuilding. I typically don't lube the bearings, just clean them off with a dry brush.

I remember B Giles saying a long time ago that he runs motor spray through a bearing blaster for the brand new ones to evacuate the chinese grease and then uses his own in there. I don't remember what, but there are a few choices out there, even Avid has one (that I doubt is in their $1.00 bearings actually).

Speaking from an engineering perspective, there is a harmonic aspect to the wheels rotation and it wouldn't surprise me that with certain wheels/tires/motor rpm, you could get a lot more forces on the bearings. Just thinking out loud. And check to see that the CVD's are still perfectly straight. Good luck

Interesting, I used to blast grease out of new bearings and run them dry without problems.

I agree on the preload thing, you need a bit of play. If the bearings are shimmed tight when they heat up and expand it can increase the load on them. This can cause them to fail. It might be worth checking the Avids vs stock with a micrometer.

this weekend i also blew through a avid 3/16 x 3/8 flanged bearing. I also use stock 1.5 hubs, and a crush tub. This was my 3rd week running in them and was surprised i went through one bearing so fast. but for 1.00 a bearing i am sure you get a bad bearing time from time.

I find the Avid bearings to be poor! I too have blown up many and now try to only use Boca!