Axle bearing lubrication

[Matt]

I did a search, but got bupkiss, so I’ll start a new topic.

 

What do people have good luck with for lubing rear axle bearings?  My son’s kart ran a few races in the rain last season and the bearings sounded and felt awful.  I pried up the metal shield and cleaned them w/ solvent, what came out was pretty grubby w/ dirt, more grit than you would ever want in a bearing.

 

I then packed them w/ a high moly content grease, something I would use on a car wheel bearing.  But now find that the bearings feel fairly stiff due to the high viscosity of the grease.

 

What do people use to lube these bearings?

[Ric mcDade]

They will feel a stiffer with the grease in them. I think, as they heat up on track, the loosen up somewhat. As for me, with the axle spinning (motor running) I spray brake clean at the bearings, both sides, let it dry, and then do the same thing with a number of good spray lubes, of which I like Royal Purple, but there are many good ones. Make sure the axle is spinning, as that seems to suck both products in. We RR, and I do it every time I come off the track. Works for me for a solid 30 min race, and my bearings last a couple of seasons.

[tony zambos]

Matt,
Search the EKN Classis site and you’ll find a ton of posts. But I couldn’t find a clear winner between Tri-Flow and grease. So it’s mostly up to you. I’d go with Ric’s suggestion. If you’re using brake cleaner, remove the bearings from the cart to save the paint. My suggestion is to replace the bearings when they feel and sound bad. I probably threw out some good bearings over the years, but there was a peace of mind.

LAD Specialties customer / tony kart / rotax / kt100

[Brock Weiss]

tri flow every time it goes out onto the track. No problems whatsoever

[Jay Sinon]

When I buy new axle bearings they are always packed in grease slowing the axle down so I take a crock pot (my wife made me buy her a new one) and pour a 1/2 gallon of WD40 in it and let it get warm then place the bearings in there for a while and that melts the grease out of the bearings letting your axle spin much freer. You can also do this after cleaning them in heavy solvents works great. Pour the WD40 back into your gallon jug and it can be used again.

And then like Brock said when I’m at the track I spray Tri Flow in them between rounds.

TaG Sr.

[Gary Lawson]

Get a bearing with removable shields so you can clean and relube easily. I use a light amount of grease with a squirt of tri flow. I do this procedure every few race days. I have more important things to do at the track than maintenance bearings. Also, spraying in a lubricant at the track almost always just pushes dirt in that is around the bearing anyway so it does more harm than good. A bearing manufacturer sends them with grease for a reason imo

[Jay Sinon]

I agree with you Gary on buying bearings with the removable side plates it’s the only way to really get them clean. I personally like doing maintenance  on my kart I tare it down all the time just to get the frame clean and re-lock tite the bolts and I find the best way to do that is to pull the axle. My daughter drives and I just like to tinker with everything although I try not to do any maintenance at the track other then oiling everything. I also agree that the manufacturer puts the grease in for a reason and I believe that reason is for longevity of the bearings life, however I don’t care so much about how long it last I want it to spin with as little resistance as possible which gives me less rolling resistance and more speed. imo

Of course I am cheap and cant see spending $200 on a ceramic bearing when I think I can come close to the same results with a $20 bearing, but I will say I have friends that use ceramic bearings and without a chain on there axle they seem to spin forever. Time versus money I guess.

TaG Sr.

[Gary Lawson]

This year will be my 5th year on the same set of skf ceramic bearings. They are worth the money for me. Not to mention how they don’t ruin axles and they make axle changes so much easier.

[Jay Sinon]

Gary,

As soon as you said they don’t ruin my axles. I said oh he is soooo right, that clamping system is so much nicer then a set screw digging into your axle. So I immediately  went to Comet kart sales and KartSport to look at them again $249. each $500. for bearings if I don’t use the third bearing cassette and I know if I install them someone will hit my tire bend my axle and ruin a bearing the following week it’s just my luck! I totally agree with you Gary but I just cant pull the trigger on them :-)

TaG Sr.

[Gary Lawson]

There’s a steel version available. Comet may be able to get them for you or kartsport would have them.

[Gary Lawson]

Point being the steel version is considerable cheaper and saves axles nonetheless etc

[Author]

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