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Squealing Rear Wheel

4K views 28 replies 13 participants last post by  Mordgier 
#1 ·
:confused:Need some help...

Noticed a few days ago the the rear wheel on my 2004 Sprint ST squeals when rotated when on the centerstand. Happens even at very slow rotation and occurs throughout the wheel's rotation. There doesn't seem to be any additional resistance to the wheel spinning, just the squealing which seems to come from behind the rear sprocket.

After troubleshooting, I found that the squeal only exists when the chain adjustment pinch bolt is torqued all the way down. If I loosen it a turn or two, the squeal is gone.

So, any ideas what could be causing the squeal when the pinch bolt is tight? I've never removed the rear wheel myself, so I've never seen the arrangement of bearings, etc inside.

Thanks in advance

AZTriple
 
#3 · (Edited)
+1 on Dave, it sounds like you have a bearing problem in the eccentric hub, I really wouldn't ride it till it's sorted out. They are known to break up and seize the rear wheel when they fail fully, and take the rear axle with them. Don't take any chances.

Here's a picture

There's a double ball race on the left nearest the sprocket, and a needle roller on the right on the axle shaft.
 
#5 ·
When was the last time the rear hub bearing was lubricated? It is supposed to be done at 6k intervals, my guess it has not. As others stated....DO NOT RIDE THIS BIKE. Tow it to your local dealer or mechanic.
 
#7 ·
how about taking the rear caliper off and checking if it still squeels? If so, then pull the wheel, and the shaft and do the bearings. There's an excellent write up on how to do the rear bearings in the maintenance tips and tricks section.
 
#11 ·
I can rule out the brakes. That's the first thing I checked in fact. I removed the caliper with no change in sound.

Chain was my next guess. I over-lubed it adjusted it. The squeal occurs at all chain tensions when the pinch bolt is tight.

Like I said, just loosening the pinch bolt slightly makes the noise stop dramatically. I tried to clean the area between the eccentric adjuster and sprocket in case some debris was causing it, with no change.

It must be something inside that is getting squeezed when the bolt is torqued down that last little bit.

The only other thing is that if I apply a side load to wheel while spinning it, it slightly changes the noise. Also, if I spin the wheel as fast as I can by hand, it also seems a little quieter.

Bearings seem to be possible, but I expected more of a grinding sound rather than squeal.

I agree with all the suggestions to not ride it. It's going to stay put until I get the wheel off and find the issue.
 
#17 ·
#19 ·
After removing the wheel, I have found that the needle bearing was dry with no trace of grease.
The bearing itself did not appear damaged, though it will be replaced soon. I did grease it and reinstalled it to see if that would resolve the squeal issue, which it has.
To answer the obvious next question, it is possible that it has not been greased in over 20k miles. This was not a service item when the bike was new. I don't know if it was done at 6k miles, but I do the majority of maintenance now, and the bearing lubrication fell through the cracks....

So, that bearing is definitely not something to neglect.
 
#23 · (Edited)
I was aware that later Sprints included that, but I pushed my luck by neglecting it for too long.

As for hearing it, OnD is right, who knows how long it was squealing while riding. I always park on centerstand at home, and usually spin the wheel to check tire before I ride. I'm confident that the squeal was not there before when parked, but it may have been there during previous rides and I would not have known.

I still can't understand why the squeal went away when the pinch bolt was loosened. Surely it doesn't compress the eccentric enough to squeeze the bearing...

Anyway, I rode it today and after about 100 miles, all is well. Still will replace bearing soon.
 
#25 ·
I still can't understand why the squeal went away when the pinch bolt was loosened. Surely it doesn't compress the eccentric enough to squeeze the bearing...
It was probably the harmonics of the bearing and the axle housing. When you loosened the clamp, it 'disconnected' the swingarm from the axle housing, changing its resonance.

So, when the swingarm was 'part' of the assembly, it 'rang like a bell."

Or, by letting the axle housing move a little when it was loosened either killed the harmonic, or it damped the higher frequency vibration .

Just guessing.
 
#27 ·
AZTriple,

I just replaced my rear bearing and seals; needle, 2 ball bearings (equivalent of the double ball) and seals. All supplied by a local machine supply house in flagstaff at about 1/2 the cost of buying the parts through BikeBandit. I'll send you the contact info if you’re interested.
 
#29 ·
I think I'm experiencing the same issue - except my bike has 11k on it right now. I have a light squeak and it's possible to detect that the brake disk is moving up and down about half a mm per full rotation... Yeah it's pretty bad.

I was going to tear the whole thing apart today and figure out *** but I don't have a 35mm for the final drive side nut. I'll let you guys know how it turns out.
 
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