I need a ton of stuff coated. Just wondering about the process and at what temps you bake at? I'd like to have my swingarm coated, but the bearings are freaking expensive to replace, and pressing them out/in is also not easy. If they're masked off well (and I don't mind cleaning any excess powder out of them), would they last through the process, or will they totally melt and just make a mess?

 

i know tristan at tripage leaves them in...he just has you remove the dust seals on all of them...he blocks them off and bakes them...the baking temp is 400 degrees...

the only concern with the heat is that the heat will melt the grease which can mess the powder, the bearings themselves will be fine...but tristan has been doing swings and rims for awhile and knows how to do it so don't worry....make sure whoever you have do it does these parts...or they wont' necessarily know how things will bake.....you will have to repack em with grease after but other than that...you'd be good to go...

 

The bearings can be left in if need be. I prefer if you remove them but they can be left in. Reason i prefer if you remove them is the grease stuck in the creases can melt and come out when the part is heated ruining the finish, and if for some reason some blasting media gets stuck in the bearings, it can cause damage down the road.

 

Really? So they're pretty safe to 400 degrees? I took the inserts out that run between the bearings and the support rods, and yeah, the bearing plastic seems safe, but the dust seals are a much softer rubber - I'm sure those would melt. The parts to get coated are only baked for about 10 minutes, right? So long as IgetALL of the grease out of them, and rub some back in when all is said an done, it should all be good, huh....get back to me and I'll try to get this stuff sent to you soon.

 

Anything rubber or plastic would have to be removed, the bearings themselves should be fine though.

 

bearings are around 30bucks each ... it would seem safer and smarter to get NEW bearings so you are starting from a new set up rather than run a risk ..

anything i have ever done or had PC'd you strip all the way ... SOME bearings dont like that kind of heat and like to 'fuse together'...

and since things EXPAND when heated ... sometimes makes it HARDER to remove if you NEED to ...

just my experience and advice

 

For swingarms I let my customers know the risks of leaving the bearings in and then let them decide. For most swingarms it's relatively expensive/pain in the butt to remove the bearings and have them reinstalled.

For head bearings, same thing. I'll just clean them out to reduce the risk of grease flowing over the coating, and then mask them best I can.

Wheel bearings are a no-brainer. $35 to have a mechanic replace them (including the cost of the bearing) and too risky to leave them in.

 

yup....I am just going to replace mine....