How to Take Bearings Out Of Skateboard Wheels?
Bearings allow your skateboard wheels to spin freely. That is why; they are considered one of the vital skateboard components. The performance of your skateboard is much dependent on wheel bearings. If they are clean and new, your skateboard wheels will rotate smoothly; otherwise, you will experience a decrease in speed and performance.
Each wheel of your skateboard comes with two bearings. These round metallic pieces fit inside the wheels, and due to their location, they catch dust and mud more easily. Although they are protected with shields, you can’t stop dirt and mud from entering the bearings.
Removing your skateboard bearings is an easy job to do, but you need to be careful as there are chances that you might accidentally damage your bearings or wheels. You must need the right tools and know the proper way of taking out the bearings from wheels.
Table of Contents
Tools you need
Step-by-Step Guide to Remove the Bearings
Alternative Method
Tools you need
A skate tool or wrench
A set of screwdrivers
A small sharp knife or pin (if required)
Step-by-Step Guide to Remove the Bearings
1.First of all, remove your wheels from the trucks. Bearings sit inside the wheels, so you can’t remove the bearings without taking the wheels off.
To uninstall the wheels, you need a ½ inch wrench or a skate tool to open the nuts holding your wheels. Remove all the nuts and washers and take the wheels out of the truck’s axle.
1.Place the wheel at the end of the axle in such a way that only the bearing touches the tip of the axle, not your wheels.
Next, hold the wheel with all your fingers and pull it downwards from the top to pop the first bearing out of your wheel. Always do this with soft hands to avoid bearing damage.
Repeat the same procedure to pop out the second bearing from your first wheel. Do this with all the remaining wheels. You must have eight bearings altogether.
Alternative Method
If your skate tool has a bearing puller, then there is no need to take the help of an axle to remove the bearings. But, here, you will need to remove your wheels completely from the axle.
The tip of the bearing puller must get inside the bearing and hook the edge. This will help you get the bearings out by just a simple pull.
Or you can use a flat screwdriver to take the bearings out of your wheels.
1.Along with bearings, bearing shields and spacers should also be removed.
Bearing shields are made to protect the bearings from large particles. And spacers are placed in between the bearings to help your wheels rotate efficiently. Spacers are designed to reduce the load that bearings bear when the wheels rotate.
You can use a sharp knife or pin to remove the bearing shields and spacers but be gentle because a hard push or pull can damage them.
Suggestions
1.Always take the help of a pro when you get stuck on something.
2.If it is your first time, you might damage some of the bearings. Therefore, always keep extra bearings with you to replace them with the damaged ones.
3.Always be gentle when applying pressure to remove the bearings if you can’t afford to buy the new ones.
4.Keep all the nuts, washers, bearings, shields, and spacers at a safe place so that you can reuse them when reinstalling the wheels.
5.Clean and maintain your wheel bearings every month. Or if you use your skateboard daily, then you should do this twice a month.
