Are my cones OK or not?
06-03-16, 02:12 PM
#1
Member
Thread Starter
Are my cones OK or not?
Hi,
I got a free old Mongoose and I'm not rebuilding it to make it my commuter/town bike. It has apparently been ridden for a while with the front hub (maybe even the rear, but I haven't taken that one apart yet) overtightened. Are the cones OK or should I replace them (don't really want to do it unless necessary, these cones aren't exactly cheap here)? I will probably replace the balls.
Photos: Cones - Album on Imgur
Thank you in advance.
I got a free old Mongoose and I'm not rebuilding it to make it my commuter/town bike. It has apparently been ridden for a while with the front hub (maybe even the rear, but I haven't taken that one apart yet) overtightened. Are the cones OK or should I replace them (don't really want to do it unless necessary, these cones aren't exactly cheap here)? I will probably replace the balls.
Photos: Cones - Album on Imgur
Thank you in advance.
06-03-16, 02:28 PM
#2
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Open them up and insect the cones and races. If they are not pitted or otherwise damaged, replace the balls, regrease and adjust. If you can adjust them to run smoothly (maybe not perfect but good enough) and without play they are fine.
06-03-16, 02:31 PM
#3
Senior Member
That little wearline doesn't look like a problem. Grease it all and reassemble and see if the axle can be moved smoothly by hand. Unless I'm missing something, I think you won't have any problems.
06-03-16, 03:02 PM
#4
Member
Thread Starter
So I thought I'd just reinstall them, but discovered that there are only 10 balls on each side (1 missing) 
OK, I guess I'm not going to finish this this week...
OK, I guess I'm not going to finish this this week...
06-03-16, 03:05 PM
#5
Senior Member
Are you sure? There should be a gap. One of the general guidelines for bearings is pack them tightly then remove one ball to get the proper spacing and gaps.
06-03-16, 03:33 PM
#6
Member
Thread Starter
IDK but I've never seen a hub that would have enough space between the balls to accept one more. And Shimano manuals didn't help much, all I found was that some hubs use 10 balls per side and some use 11...
06-03-16, 04:06 PM
#7
Really Old Senior Member
All you have to do is identify the hub you have and then get the tech doc for it.
Just about all the older front hubs use 10 balls per side, while it appears some "newer" ones might use 11.
06-03-16, 04:13 PM
#8
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For hubs install as many balls as you can. When it cones to hubs and BB's forgot that old wives tale about 'removing one'.
06-03-16, 04:14 PM
#9
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+1 The tech documents will tell you how many balls are specified. As noted, some of the newer hubs do use 11x3/16" balls per side while older ones used 10. Shimano rear hubs almost all use 9x1/4" balls per side.
06-03-16, 04:17 PM
#10
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Thread Starter
It's a HB-MC30, can't find anything for it. HB-M4050, 435, 525A, 595, 615, 675, 7000, RS400, 505, 300, and maybe others all use 11 balls per side.
06-03-16, 04:48 PM
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