Rear hub bearings
 

I have a set of bearings & dust boots from a new shimano xt HB-M756-A hub, just no hub & I have a Wheel masters wheel that has an Origin8 6 bolt disc hub with no bearings, both are 8/9-speed.

Does anyone know the likelihood that the bearings are interchangeable? I'd like to repurpose the xt bearings in to the Origin8 hub that I have no bearings in. It would essentially bring new life to the WM wheel assembly without tossing out a true wheel in to the trash.

Any chance it will or will not work?

What do you actually mean by "bearings"? IIRC the Shimano hub is generally referred to as a loose ball bearing design, I suspect the O8 one is too. If one is a cartridge bearing and the other is a loose ball one then the answer is no, no interchangeability. If both are of the same bearing design then the bearing "element" might transfer.

Shops go through this all the time, matching replacement axle cones to a hub. First up is the axle threading match, but one can always change the axle to one that's compatible with the cones if needed. Then the cone's OD usually is the next match, a cone too large and it might not fit through any dust caps. The cone's length is somewhat playable as spacers can be added or changed to maintain overall lock nut dimension, although some "short" cones can have the wrench flats become non assessable once in the hub. The cone's curvature and it's inner curve start diameter are pretty critical and what prevents otherwise similar but not perfect cones from working. The goal is to have the balls run on the curve and not the edge, easy to miss judge as that's deep inside/out of sight and many wrenches don't have the feel to discern this.

However in the time I took to write this I also could have test fitted the Shimano parts into the O8 hub and found out in real life. The tiny differences with cone specs are not always expressed well enough in spec sheets. Andy

generally speaking, the test fit to try it out could be done once the wheel is removed & disassembled. Was seeking input from others that may have encountered the two style of hubs & could directly relate to the situation for compatibility.

I thought you said that the O8 hubbed wheel is lacking it's bearings and that you have a bearing "set' from a Shimano hub. So what's this about having to remove/dissemble a wheel? Andy

Its a personal thing.
i prefer to assemble things back together as much as possible as to retain bits for a later time when memory plays tricks forgetting where stuff was misplaced.

I understand this method very well and have done the same often enough, but without any bearings the O8 wheel isn't going onto a bike that's to be in use. Hence my question about the removal comment. Andy

understood.

Swapped the bearings & repacked all with grease. The wm axle hole hardly had grease, also the center of the hub is more hollow then the XT. Smoother rolling feel, still feel some notchy during hand rotation. No where near as it was before. Hope to get a few thousand miles out of this hub after all the attention given to it recently.