lucasislight, did you ever go through the trouble of replacing bearings before? It can really be a huge pain in the you-know-what. I'd much much much rather spend 10 times as much on good stuff and know that it will last than get cheap stuff and replace it more often. It's not worth the effort to try saving money by using cheap parts. Every time I ever tried doing it, it ended up costing me more time and money in the end. One time to do it cheap, then all over again to do it the right way.

 

yeah i have done them before on other quads but have always just bought oem. its the rear hub bearings that need replacing, but i figured i would just do them all seeing its the first time they have been done on the warrior.

 

what is so hard about changing bearings, put your bearings in the freezer the night before, heat the housing with a propane torch, tap out the bearing, reheat housing, take your bearings out of the freezer and literally drop them in place ,its that easy! I'd go for the cheap ones. If you have grease fittings USE THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

IF the thing comes apart like it's supposed to, that's all that's involved in changing bearings. I never had such luck. 2 days to get the damn axle nuts off, another 2 days to get the axle pounded out of the carrier. And the whole thing is a big mess if you grease everything up like you're supposed to.

 

My 250r is 20 yrs. old I never have any problems like that, but then again not everything is built like a HONDA.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

There is no getting around that the low quality Chinese bearings on e-bay are not going to last as long.
At this point you need to ask yourself, how much is your time worth?
What kind of riding do you do?
If you have time to kill and don't ride anywhere you wouldn't mind walking back from the cheap bearings can be a good deal.

 

Most dealers seem to think their bearings are made of gold. I have bought plenty of bearings off ebay and have had zero problems with them. I do clean them with carb cleaner and repack them with waterproof grease. But Ive been doing that for many years before ebay came along. Like some have said you dont want to get chinese bearings. Just ask the seller what kind/what country the bearings came from. I have bearings bought on ebay in my KTM's engine.

 

the rear end is already apart, i know about the heating to expand and cooling to contract of metals. i ride in everything from highspeed powerline trails to mud to creek crossings. theres no doubt that the expensive bearings are better, but from what i have heard i am going with the inexpensive set. thanks for the input everyone!

 

and yeah the 250r is a great bike! i wish i still had it!

 

The guy who said "crap shoot" about buying on ebay got it right!!!

Thats the problem really since unless you get lucky and question a seller who is honest, actually knows what he is selling, and will take the time to answer correctly you may not be able to figure out if your buying something compareable to oem (most quality products from US, Europe, Japan etc) or total chinese dollar store garbage.

I had spent many years in the bearing industry, and I can tell you directly, and honestly that there is no comparison in the product manufactured in China, and the other bordering countries. Japan has many quality bearing mfg plants (NSK, Nachi, NTN, Koyo etc etc) that even supply most all of the major bike and atv mfg's, and even Korea has been producing a much superior product compared to the chinese.

In all fairness the Chinese bearings have improved over the last ten years etc, but the biggest problem is that you have no way of knowing if your purchasing one of their better (though still inferior) products, or just another dollar store reject that was dumped here.

As far as our sport is concerned it just doesnt make any sense to chance buying an inferior product that may actually injur or even kill you when it fails (sorry I will not even chance losing a wheel, carrier, or other bearing and crashing just to save a few bucks) .

Now this doesnt mean you cant save plenty of money when the time comes to buy new bearings. Heck I have even tried to figure out a way to supply this product to our sport in a way that we can access a quality product at a price savings over the dealer. Actually there are a few quality brands that offer most of the sizes and fits we use, but I have found too many people who were not smart enough to realize that it is a smarter decision to spend a few dollars more on the good stuff (while still saving between 30-50% off dealer prices) and would just buy the cheap junk anyhow. Still you can save some money by just writting down the numbers found on the bearing race (some found on the parts lists too) and calling up your local bearing distributor (call around as not all will give you a good price, and you can also try elec motor shops, and even grainger, or if enough of you show interest I could look into it again lol)and giving them the part numbers.

Its actually pretty interesting to see this thread, and even many of the replies (not all) because its the same basic mentality that made me give up the idea of getting involved in this, and thats the unbelievable thinking that somehow it makes sense to buy some chinese crapp bearing for your front wheels (4 total pieces for most) saving a few dollars and just buy more so you can replace them more often, and just ignore the idea that your risking a crash when these fail, and then not being smart (yea I said smart) enough to realize that you would have to save hundreds on the one set to just cover the time to do the job, and thats not giving any concern to the value of your safety, and potential time laid up from a crash.

I am not saying you have to run out and pay $20 ea for those same four pieces from the dealer etc, but thinking your getting a deal paying $25 for the whole set (in cheap chinese stuff) is about as smart as hiring a 90 year old hooker with aids because she offered you a discount.

I hope that helps you guys on the fence, and at least makes those who like doing maint three or even ten times as often think about how much its costing them to save a couple bucks!!!