Yes just going to grab them in case they need changing. I can always drop them back in the new year. Hopefully just the circlip needs refitting.
Well don't trust gsf online stock levels. Not in stock. I'll try and get it apart later and report back.
Always the best approach, maybe you don't need bearings. Guessing what parts you need usually ends up with a box of parts you don't need IME.
Hopefully you meant bearing kits - two dust seals, one circlip, one ball bearing assembly, one outer roller race, one inner roller bearing sleeve. And a tub of grease - it uses quite a lot, and the reason our bearings wear out is we are meant to re pack the assembly with grease every ?? 15k miles.
Plenty of spannering and hub nut undoing, a big pair of circlip pliers, a bearing driver or a press (or a hammer). Poss also a press to get the stub axle out if it’s siezed in (mine was). If they don’t need changing, I wouldn’t do it. The original 1970s bearings are probably better quality than replacements.
The last MOT identified it as needing doing, the garage supposedly did it about 6 years ago. I thought I might have a go myself couldn't do any worse than them.
I suppose the thing about the re-packing is that you need to take the hub nut off to take a look at the grease inside, and squidge out the dark brown stuff - the usual grease starts life as light brown and slightly translucent, and as it ages it goes browner and more waxy. Over time, the hard brown grease doesnt flow back into the bearings as they get hotter, so the bearings end up running dry, surrounded by a dark brown grease cake. However if part of the grease goes rust coloured, , this is either water ingress or burnt metal - my 40 mile life bearing had plenty of brown rust where the rollers had started to disintegrate the bearing shell and begin flaking apart themselves.
The roller bearing grease looks a bit milky/rusty - so it has probably lost metal hence the wobble. The drive shaft looks OK , but the polishing on the shaft where the bearings sit shows maybe like they may have been allowed to spin a bit because the big nut was not tight enough to completely lock the stack of bearings and spacer together. The horrid bit is getting that outer roller race out, its worth clearing grease out to get a good view of the notches in the hub carrier where you can drive it out. Hammering blind you may be hitting the wrong thing..
Yes it's a bit messy Mike. Seals are off so clean up time. The circlip looks to be present. I'm hoping the shaft hasn't worn on the bottom where it sits against the bearing?
