Fixing the problem

[Bennett Moe]

This weekend, I finally got the chance to dig into the problem that left Mr. Hanky and me on the side of the road on the way to Nats. I knew it was a bad bearing. Very bad. But I was still surprised. The outer bearing had totally disintegrated. Totally. When I pulled it apart, there were two roller bearings left. Two. Out of what? 16? No sign of the others anywhere. None. Not much left of the rest of the bearing either. I'll have to take a pic of the remains. There was so much play in the hub and rotor that the bearing retainer washer (the one between the two bearing nuts) wore into the hub all the way to the bolts that hold in the locking hub. It actually wore into the threads of the bolts. So much for that hub - it's a door stop now. Good thing I have another axle at home. The spindle wasn't scored too bad and I put on the hub and rotor from the other axle, with repacked bearings. Haven't test driven it yet, but it went back together easily and looks good (well, good my Mr. hanky standards anyway).