Dear Patrick, SKF or NTN size 61902 bearings with contact seals (2rs is the most common) in either side are excellent.
If you aren't doing your own work, then whatever your shop recommends is best, of course. Make sure they don't overdo the side preload (no play, but only just no play at the rim-too little is usually worse than too much for wheel bearings), and I would check to see which bearing went bad. The non-drive is pretty well protected by the preload collar, but the drive side is somewhat exposed to water etc. If both went bad, and the grease inside them is clean, then the preload was not properly set. If only one bearing is bad, then it probably got contaminated. Unfortunately, simple lip seals (like those present on the Paul bearings or the Phil hubs) aren't going to seal out contamination by water and grit for long, and the Paul design lacks dedicated dust shields to prevent contamination. I would get comfy with a bearing puller and your local bearing supplier. The big advantage to the Paul design is that it is easy to pull and replace bearings. One other thing you can do. If the bearings are not gritty or rough, you can carefully pull the seals with a razor blade/xacto knife, flush the bearing with solvent, replace one seal, and fill it with Marine bearing grease, readily available at an auto parts store. Then replace the other seal. Regular repacking may extend the life of the unshielded bearing. Best Regards, Will William M. deRosset Fort Collins CO USA -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
