BEST Grease Cleaner for Wheel Hubs?
 

Hi friends!

I am attempting a first time repair on a front wheel hub and have already went through the process of taking everything out, the rods and the ball bearings.

And now I'm curious to know what the best method is to clear up and prep the wheel hub for installation?

Also, can I get a suggestions on which ball bearing are great? (Decent priced)

Thanks

WD40 works very good as a cleaner and degreaser for bike hubs. Another surprising chemical that works great for this is charcoal lighter fluid. I've used both effectively.

I like to use "odorless mineral spirits" aka OMS, available as a paint thinner at many hardware stores. But apparently not in California.

"Grade 25" balls are what the top-end hubs use. You can get cheaper, lower grade balls, but you really don't save much by doing so.

+1 on the grade 25 bearings, which are the highest tolerance (most spherical) you can get. Buy from a reliable supplier like Wheels Manufacturing; there are some no-name suppliers, and I sometimes wonder if they are really grade 25. I think you can probably find them on Amazon in bulk, and for reasonable costs.

As for a degreaser: maybe I'm doing it wrong, but when I overhaul old style cup & cone hubs, I just clean everything out thoroughly with a clean rag (an old cotton t-shirt works well) and also use Q-tips, as well. That way, I don't have to wait for liquid degreaser to dry/evaporate before putting in the fresh grease and bearings. I may leave a trace amount of old grease behind, but I don't worry about it, as I repack with a lot of fresh Phil Wood grease.

Yep , Grade 25, is what I've always used. As for cleaning, I keep a large supply of rags around, and just wipe all the old crap out of races, cones and axles . KB

Kerosene : Smells a tad but it's the best of the best :

I don't usually use a degreaser. Just wipe out the old grease & replace with new.
I have used a quick squirt of WD-40 if there's a lot of gunky stuff that is hard to remove.

Thanks everyone for the response and feedback!

I am looking up some Grade 25s now and will be cleaning up the grease with either WD40 or some kerosene.

You all are great!