Clean and Grease your Skateboard Bearings

It's winter out there. The streets are covered with water, salt, and funky road grit. But you really want to skate. What can you do? Answer: go skate anyway, then clean your bearings so they'll live to skate another day.

This is a straightforward demo of how to disassemble, clean, grease, and re-assemble a skateboard bearing. Just in case you wanted to see it done. It's actually terribly easy if you've done it once.

Step 1: What you Need

Dirty skateboard bearings. (Can be obtained from within dirty skateboard wheels.)
Acetone or other solvent. (97% Isopropyl Alcohol is good too.)
A bowl or cup to put it in.
A small pin or straightened staple to remove the bearing shields.

Comments

[zreed1]

Yea, I agree...... i tried wearing some gloves that i had just lying around, and it tore right through them. it kinda made my finger numb. so i MOST DEFINITELY SUGGEST WEARING GOOD GLOVES!!!!!!

[rhall-1]

It's probably a good idea to be wearing natural rubber or neoprene gloves (or something else that acetone won't eat through -- vinyl, latex and nitrile are no match). It's not particularly awesome to be using bare hands in that stuff, just sayin'.

[sharlston]

Skateboardigs awesome,nice ible,have you seen element search and win? sign up now and ya can get decks clothing and bearings sign up now http://element.searchpluswin.com/refer/mattyts

[paperclip32]

You can add that silicone lubricant works well too.Spray a light layer,and you'll have lubed bearings.

[sharlston]

i like silicone but i struggle removing the stuff

[paperclip32]

What type are you using?You need some spray silicone lubricant.

[sharlston]

its rocol spray aersol type

[paperclip32]

http://www.rocol.com/corp/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=66&Itemid=84&lang=en
That one?You're using food grade,no wonder.That's for baking.What you need is some Silicone spray used for gears and hinges.
I use this:http://www.3inone.com/products/silicone-spray/

[sharlston]

Yes i have that,its reccomended for bearings:
"Precision Silicone Spray

Non toxic colourless silicone spray providing a light lubricating film with wide temperature stability.

Effective clean lubricant
Ideal for slides, bearings and conveyors
Resists oxidation and corrosion
Temperature range - 50°C to + 200°C"

[paperclip32]

Hmm,I haven't used it before,but usually you're not supposed to peel it off.Try leaving it on and then going to skate.

[sharlston]

peel it off?

[paperclip32]

You said "removing the stuff" so I deduced that it formed a layer over the balls.
Mabye it doesn't.This conversation is going nowhere.

[sharlston]

I meant removing the silicone lube from the bearings becuase i was switching lubricants

[sharlston]

(removed by author or community request)

[Plaid Demon]

you have the best on market

[sharlston]

wtf why did my comment get removed seroiusly are abec 1s best on the market?

[Andy-K]

 Not so much. Abec 1's are the lowest bearing in the ABEC rating. The best on the market would probably be the bones swiss, or labyrinth.

[sharlston]

so why did plaid demon say they are

[koebwil]

Actually the Abec scale has very little relevance to skateboarding since it does not take side loads, materials, or the surface finish on the races into account.  It only defines a tolerance for sizes and sphericity, or at least that's how I understand it.  It might tell you how accurate the shop that made the bearings, but not how well they will really work.

[gofast845]

i have abec 7s there the top notch stuff pretty cheap two give em a shot

[jjjjake]

is it safe to touch the acetone with bare hands?

[Desty Nova]

Yes, it's ok, just feels really cold as the solvent evaporates via an endothermic reaction. If you keep doing it on a prolonged basis, your skin can get dry though. Also be careful not to spill it on plastic which might melt or blister (like a computer keyboard).

[sharlston]

what bearings are they?

[sharlston]

in the pic on step 3 is the amber coloured stuff grease or ball retainers?

[sharlston]

what bearings are they?

[sharlston]

also some other good oils are: lithium grease synthetic oil (mobil 1) really thick veg oil(last resort) the gunk from a bike chain(works perfect if you can get it without dust i made a plastic bearing by replacing the normall bearings with airsoft bb's want to see a pic?

[Darren.]

yeah post a picture

[sharlston]

here

1st pic bearing with no grease
2nd pic packaging
3rdpic fully packed with grease

[sharlston]

will do

[Darren.]

i cant see the piture/ post a lnk or something

[sharlston]

could of been  a bug ,here:

[GorillazMiko]

Thanks! I might try this out, my bearings are getting all weird. My friend used to put WD-40 on his. It works, but you will have to do it over and over again. This is way easier, awesome Instructable. +1 rating.

[sharlston]

what you mean by all weird?

[sploge]

never put wd 40 on bearings its a degreser and a rust remover and it disolves all that gunk which then get stuck and seizes

[speedyspy2]

He's right

[Macaylastutorials]

yes, some abec 5's have rubber sheilds, depending on what you buy, I have black widdow abec 5's and they have black rubber shields,

[sharlston]

can someone tell me if abec 5s have rubber shields?

[rownhunt]

My friend just buys new bearings there like $30 he just gets new ones once a year!

[adio]

you should do full cleaning instructable since when i do it they ride like i first got them

[sharlston]

ive got a cheap board and my bearings rattle should i replace them or something?