J&P Community

 I had a front wheel bearing go out on my 94 e-glide and now I got some questions about replacing them.  I got everything apart, got new bearings and seal, but something just doesn't seem right now that I am trying to put it all back together.  When I took it all apart there were only .025 worth of shims and now I have about a 1/2in worth of them and still have a ton of play.  My Indy told me to mock everything up before I packed the bearings and put the seals in, torque it all down and check the end play.  I just don't know why I need so many shims now.  The only thing that I didn't do that I know I was supposed to was replace the races, cause they both looked good.  Would that make a difference? Any help would be appreciated.

Josh

 More shims gives more clearance. Reduce the the amount of shims you are using and you will see what you need. .

 I guess I am old school, I always replace races with bearings. match sets. Do what Scott says.

 Well, I am going to go ahead and replace the races.  So, I just want to make sure I understand this.  By removing shims I will have less side to side play?  Other then that does it sound like I am on the right track?

 You have 2 cones (bearings)  that face each other. Adding shims moves them apart, increasing clearance. Removing shims allows them to be closer together, reducing clearance.

Removing races requires a special tool to grab the race lip, or access to a welder. I run a bead of weld around the race face, and as the race cools, it shrinks allowing it to fall out.