[jimbo]

Everyone was raving about Phil's in the other post, but I have one with ~1.5 years on it and the drive side bearing is shot. It was getting more and more play, to the point that it was 2 mm at the rim by this week. I pulled the seal and squished in some grease, and that helped a bit, but obviously that's only a temporary fix, and not really a fix at that.

My question is that I don't see any obvious way to get the axle out. I used two 8mm Allen's and that took off one "locknut" (don't know what it's really called), but then I don't know how to get the other off. I tried using a mallet to push the axle through, but that didn't work. I looked at Phil's website and there was no directions there. So here I am.

First question is how to get it apart. Second question is, if PW hubs are so great, why did I blow a bearing in roughly a year (the play started 6 months or so ago). They tout their bearings on the website, and they aren't that expensive to replace, but I was thinking I would get more use than that.

The hubs are nice enough, but to me what makes one set of hubs better than another is the bearing quality (if Shimano made ss hubs, I'd buy a pair in a heartbeat). I've had loose ball hubs that ran like butter for 5-6 years, and the other thread had people saying they got that sort of use from Phil's. What gives?

jimbo

 

[xrmattaz]

If I were you, and I'm not....I'd pose this question directly toward them Phil Wood folks.

They'll make things right. Posting on here only makes some people a little wary of the product, and that ain't right.

 

[dirtdrop]

Brent @ Phil Wood will set you straight, no worries. Shoot him an email.

 

[jimbo]

Fair enough, but I guess I just reacted to everyone saying how wonderful their Phil hubs were. And to say that it's not right to post your experience with a productd (this is MTBR after all) isn't right either. My hub bearing went out in a relatively short period of time, and their website doesn't help in terms of how to rebuild it. I was curious as to whether someone here had similar experiences and whether anyone knew how to take the hub apart. I don't see anything wrong with that. I wouldn't have posted if I hadn't seen the other post about the hubs.

I will contact them and if PW makes it right I will come back and sing their praises.

 

[Pottser]

I have much better life with PW hubs. I ride them a lot in really bad weather and haven't changed the bearings nor found any play on my two year old hubs. One of the main reason buying PW is the ease of replacing bearings. They are cheap and the hubs is brandnew afterwards. Replacing is really easy. This is how I replaced my bearings some years ago. You might want to contact PW for better instructions, but i found this procedure to be really straightforward. Only a few parts involved, no adjusting or grease all over the house.
Unscrew one of the endcap and knock out the axle (with bolt in place to avoid damaging the alu-axle). This will take out one of the two bearings. Put the axle back in again on the other side and knock out the other bearing. Clean and lube the hubshell and press in the new bearings. You can use the old bearings to press them in straight and avoid damaging the new bearings. Takes less than 15 minutes and gives you a new hub.

 

[jimbo]

Thanks, exactly what I was looking for. Now I'll get on the horn tomorrow and order up some Phil bearings. Hopefully they'll have a good answer for the short life (other than my crushingly powerful legs, hahaha)

 

[BThor]

If I were you, and I'm not....I'd pose this question directly toward them Phil Wood folks.

They'll make things right. Posting on here only makes some people a little wary of the product, and that ain't right.

I second this...brent ...def will help you out.

 

[Guest]

1.Remove Bolts and washers.
2.Using two 8mm allen wrenches remove which ever of the “caps” that will come off the axle.
2.Take an axle bolt and thread it back in to the exposed side of the axle to protect the threads and tap (the bolt) with hammer until the axle and opposing bearing come out.
3.Grab that axle in the center with vice, pliers, and with 8mm allen wrench remove the cap that is still on the axle.
4.Slide axle with bolt back in to hub and repeat step 3 to remove remaining bearing.
5.Clean inside of hubs shell of any dirt/mud/water.
6.Lay wheel on its side on a hard flat surface (freewheel/fixed side down if rear), lightly oil or grease the bearing pocket and set new bearing on bearing pocket.
7.Place the new bearing on to one side of the axle, place the old bearing over the new bearing, place the end cap with the rough side facing the bearing (backwards) and thread the bolts into the axle to hold the bearings in place.
8. Slip the axle through the hub shell and repeat step 7 on the other end of the axle.
9.Take the two allen wrenches and tighten the bolts at each end until the new bearings are seated properly. IMPORTANT, make sure the bearings are going in straight when tightening.
10.Remove bolts
11. If one bolt is stuck use jam nut and washer locked on opposing side to remove.
12.Thread caps back on.
13.Go Ride

Shoot an email straight to me brent at philwood,com with your address, they'l be in the mail tomorrow.
1.5 years is a very short life for our bearings. Did the caps ever come loose or anything odd like that?

Thanks,
Brent