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[Cumbrian_andy]

Bearing fit wouldnt work Adrian its been tried.
However Loctite do a product called loctite660 that is designed for loose fit bearings/keyways/tapers and that looks promising. Notwithstanding I shall attempt to get a replacement wheel, I felt I had nothing to lose with the original wheel as an experimental testbed so will see if I can get some loctite660 to see if it does what it says on the tin.
Andy

[Adrian]

It would be interesting to see how you get on with it, I shall keep my old brake drum with the worn bearing housing just in case you get good results! A.

[Cumbrian_andy]

new wheel on its way, our hosts checked the bearing recesses before shipping so hopefully thats the end of that.
I got some other stuff from BRT bearings in Carlisle today that is supposed to be good up to 0.2mm clearance and I shall try it in the old wheel as an experiment. Nowt to lose i reckon. Watch this space Adrian.

Andy

[Adrian]

Space being watched...

[Cumbrian_andy]

I had another look at the original wheel, Knocked out the existing bearings as the cushdrive side one had had a knock trying to drive it out when we realised the other side was a bit slack. Anyway I cleaned everything up and though there was evidence of a bit of fretting on one side it didnt look too bad and a quick "dry" fit of a new bearing seemed to show it was gripping and needed driving into the seat. So I made sure everything on the wheel was degreased and I also very carefully wiped the outside of the new bearings with a bit of IPA to remove any contamination off the surface. Then I used a generous smearing of the fancy bearing lock compound, it was quite gloopy and found I needed a tap on the socket to drive both bearings in, which reassured me. I also noted the old internal spacer seemed to rattle about inside whereas the new one I bought was a nice tight fit once both bearings were driven in. So far so good. and the wheel is back in, all new bearings on wheel and sprocket/drum not overtightened and it feels ok. I can feel a slight movement in the lateral plane and so i suspect the swingarm bushes are due replaced with the better brass ones.
I'm going to let the lock compound cure for a day and then I'll have a run up and down hartside on the A686 and if theres any issues that road will bring them to light for sure, all those bends and a few hairpins chucked in.
Adrian, if that stuff works i'll be chuffed but I think the wheel wasnt quite as bad I thought. It was still a bit "not tight enough" though to warrant a bit of the stronger bearing lock.

Looks like I'll be returning both wheels to our hosts if this works, but as the second one was still not right, this one needidng a loose spoke I found replaced as it was an "outside" one in an "inside" position and the bent head was at the wrong angle i'd have had to rob one out of the first duff wheel and swop em over so i feel justified in a way to return both and ask for a refund if this repair works.

Andy.

[Adrian]

Glad the Loctite 660 seems to work, your trip sounds like a good road test for it. A.

[Cumbrian_andy]

It's not Loctite but a similar product that BRT bearings in Carlisle stock. Its a similar Acrylic adhesive product (Bit like superglue on steroids!). I'll look the product name up when in the garage tomorrow. The main specification was that it could work with a bearing clearance/gap of up to 0.25mm which isn't as good as loctite 660 which is specced to be good to 0.5mm, but that was plenty for my needs as the bearing seemed to be touching the sides of the recess ok it was just a tad slack in that it was easy to knock out. Anyway touch wood this stuff has worked, but If I could have got it the loctite would have been my first choice.
I am minded to keep the good "new" wheel though as it was bought and supplied in good faith and I figured a "spare could be useful. I'll likely swap in a correct spoke from the duff wheel and hub and then I have a decent wheel just in case as I won't know how robust this fix will be long term.
Awaiting the new Renold drive chain tomorrow as the old Indian Chain is right at the end of adjustment, there's a bit left but I don't like running nearly worn out chains. I have a feeling too that the bearing failure was a combination of poor quality originals and stress caused by the wheel not being aligned with the front wheel so it was subject to extra side forces as well as the extra ones from the sidecar. The Sidecar triple duty tyre is worn to the limit at around 1k miles which suggests to me that I had something very badly maladjusted as well as a case of overinflation making it wear in the middle. Its a right faff on trying to align front and rear wheels and as they are using the same tyres at the moment I was wondering if I could make a jig from some wood laths to fit each side of the tyres when adjusting the chain or changing tyres and wheel out. Oh for some accurate markings on the swing arm to line the back wheel up with..................

[scotty]

Hi when I fit bearings be they wheel or eng, gearbox I always freeze bearings in plastic bag overnight and warm houseing with hot air gun, they just tap I to place with the right size socket ends up a tight fit, I think if you drive/ press them in you take a little out of the hole each time. Have heard that a lot of chinese copy bearings are on the market and are crap, beware of adds that say bearings supplied in plastic bags to save postage on cardboard box.

[Adrian]

Back in our parents' day sidecar use was a lot more common, and there was a wealth of experience and instruction on how to set-up a sidecar properly. As people were still struggling to afford cars, these things had to work properly and economically, as money for repairs was also scarce. My father had a Norton 500 twin outfit which he used not only to carry the family around but also, as he was into his sailing, to tow a trailer with a Shearwater catamaran around on a trailer to go to races further afield, and while the engine could still cope with this sort of abuse happily enough, he did tell the tale of how he was trying to tow the boat and trailer up a steep hill out of Dover only to have the outfit struggle with the rear chain slipping over a worn rear wheel sprocket which he couldn't afford to replace...

Sorry, wandering off topic. Does THIS help re sidecar and wheel alignment?



http://www.steves-workshop.co.uk/vehicl ... tment.html



You're right though, the extra demands of the sidecar would require the best quality chain and bearings, even more so than with a solo.

A.