Pulling Apart Some Sunshine Hubs

My Team Mongoose BMX originally came with a set of Araya 7X rims laced to some nice black and silver sealed-bearing Sunshine Hubs. After sitting around for 20 years, the bearings have dried up and stuck in place. It's time to pull apart the hubs and replace the sealed bearings and bring a little life back into these worn hubs.

I pulled apart the hubs and begun trying to pry the bearings out. They would not budge. I put a little more force with a screwdriver and a hammer. I had written the bearings off, ready to replace them with a new set. Still no movement. I wasn't sure what to do and Google was being of no help.

I decided to spray as much WD-40 as I could into a small cup and soak the hubs hoping to loosen the bearings up to get them out. At this point in time I didn't think I would be able to get them out, ever!

During the week I managed to find a flat head screwdriver that had a pre-bent tip. My thoughts were that this would give me a little extra leverage to be able to pop the bearings out of their socket. A week went by and I was ready to go! I placed the hubs between two pieces of pine wood, lined up the screwdriver and the hammer, a few light taps and the bearings popped right out!

You can see the crud that had built up inside the bearing crevice that was causing the bearing to stick to the hub. I'm glad they're out. Now I can source a set of replacement bearings and have these hubs spinning beautifully again!

I need to remember to use the right tools for the job. I'm going to invest in some quality tools!