We have all been there before where some point, the fun stops and the maintenance and upkeep begins. For myself however, keeping gear running smoothly is half if not more the fun of the whole hobby. Knowing that my gear and my kids gear is running smoothly makes me feel good and seeing the glide that lasts in every push is great!
Things you will need
– cleaner/degreaser
– lubricant, options are below
– all-in-one cleaner/lubricant such as tri-flow or 3 in 1oil for the quick and easy method
– microfiber towel for the in-depth method
– heat gun / hairdryer, or compressed air
– skate tool
Optional: RPM bearing blaster
Quick and easy method
The fastest way to clean bearings to an acceptable level is also the easiest and only takes 1 or 2 minutes before you set out on your ride.
Giving the outside of the bearings and the inner core of the wheel a quick wipe with a microfiber towel is needed to remove the loose dust that we could otherwise flush further into the bearing. While the bearings are still on the trucks, we can use a cleaner/lubricant, such as 3 and 1 oil, or tri flow oil.
Give the tri flo squirt onto each of the bearings, on the accessible side for all 8 bearings. If you are using 3 in 1 oil, 3 drops should be plenty. For Tri Flo spray – use what would be equivalent to maybe a half second squirt.
Keep in mind the viscosity or thickness of the 3 in 1 is much thicker than the Tri Flo, despite already being somewhat of a light oil. If you apply too much you will definitely for the first few rides notice that the bearings are a little bit slower. Thus you do not want to apply more than the 3 drops.
Skanunu is another skate specific lubricant and cleaner, all-in-one, but it does not appear to be available anymore. See our in-depth article on lubricant types if you want to learn more about the various options.
Keep the board upside down, and then give each of the wheels a good strong kick to keep them spinning. The lubricant would have absorbed into the bearing and then the centrifugal force will spin out some of the dust from the bearing. Some people will say that this flushes dirt further into the bearing, but wiping the outside should minimize this and further since you have an excess of fluid this step of giving the strong kick to get the wheels spinning will create a strong centrifugal force to carry the contaminants out.
Finish off by giving the inside of the core another good wipe with the microfiber towel, and be sure to clean off any excess oil that may have gotten onto the wheels. There may be a slight sound of grittiness to the bearings in which you may want to repeat the process, but usually after a few more kicks this is all gone.
Note: this seems to work best with very light and thin lubricants and I highly recommend Tri Flo for this as it is very light, cleans well, and is actually my ideal long-lasting lubricant as it binds to the metal as well with Teflon.
WD-40 does not work well for this purpose. The cleaning does get done quite well, the lubricant does not last long at all.
If you want to look at some other homegrown formulas, take a quick Google search for homebrew bike chain lubricants and cleaners. This is mostly a mix of motor oil and paint thinner in various combinations, but note that the lubrication is definitely a bit thicker than ideal for skate bearings.
Slightly longer, but better and more standard method of cleaning the bearings
Taking the bearings out
Any skate tool will do here, but be sure to not press too hard against the bearing as some cheaper skate tools may indent the rubber shields. Once the nut is off, take off the wheel, and use the axle of the truck to pry out the bearings on both sides of the wheel. Longboarding wheels are very soft and this will be easy, harder skateboard wheels may take a little bit of force.
Removing the bearing shields
Use the edge of an X-Acto knife, pin, or small flat head screwdriver to pry off the inner shield from the inside race (inside small circle). Be somewhat careful to not bend the shield too much. It is not really too much of a problem as you can press the shield flat again against a clean hard surface such as a tabletop to flatten it out again.
Cleaning the bearing
I have tried every single method out there for cleaning the bearing. The methods basically boil down to 2 methods: disassembly of the bearing completely with removing the balls from the cages, versus a solvent soak/spray/shake method. They both work well but by far, to get like new bearings the disassembly works the best.
We can cover that option after as fewer people will be as neurotic as I am.
Spray and pray
The easiest method for cleaning the bearing is to take a pressurized can of solvent or cleaner, and use the straw to aim a strong stream of solvent into the bearing from all different angles. This will flush out the dirt and grime. WD-40 works excellent for this as a cleaner. You will read how WD-40 is never to be used on skate bearings but this only applies if it is left as the sole lubrication for the bearings. In fact, it works great as a cleaner. Brake cleaner can work very well, as can electrical contact cleaner, both of which are available in pressurized cans. These latter two do seem to work better than WD-40 but can be more toxic. Excess exposure to the nylon cage may damage the plastic, but this would be very minimal with the short exposure done in cleaning.
Usually you just spray until the bearings come out relatively clean and the excess fluid is clear. You can test by hand spinning the bearing and it should feel significantly freer and faster.
This method, while easy and better than the quick method detailed above, works well the vast majority of the time but if you are truly more obsessive like I am, you will find that compared to the methods below, the bearings do not come out as perfect.
The RPM bearing blaster works in this method as well, but in all reality I have not found that it works so much better than just a free spray. It is supposed to create a pressure tight seal over the bearing and thus allow you to flush the cleaner all around the bearing balls, but I think our skate bearings are slightly too large for the standard bearing blaster. Still worth a try if you are a gadget freak though.
Shake and bake
One of the best methods of cleaning that I have found is to get an old plastic bottle, such as that used to carry vitamins, and fill this with a degreaser such as simple green undiluted, or a citrus cleaner. It can be water-based without any problems as we will be drying the bearings very quickly afterwards.
Fill a quarter of the container with the cleaning solvent and then put all the bearings in. Place the cap on and shake for a good 30 seconds. Dump everything out, fill with fresh cleaner, and repeat 1 or 2 more times. Again, test spinning after cleaning should give you a very free bearing.
Once the bearings are out, blow drying them with compressed air, or heating them to dry with a hairdryer heat gun is crucial in order to get the moisture out before rust can form. If you try to hand spin after the cleaner has been blown off or dried off with the heat gun, it may not be as free if there is any damage to the bearings but the vast majority of the time they are still very usable and you will not notice any difference. An undamaged bearing will spin better dry, but this is rarely found when we are cleaning used skateboard bearings.
This method gets the bearings very clean, especially if we have done 2 or 3 rinses with the solvent.
The truly, get a like-new bearing cleaning method
I just started doing this method on my Bronson raw bearings. I also did this when I replaced the balls in the Bronson raw bearings with ceramic balls since the bearing had to be taken apart anyway.
No separate cleaner from the lubrication is needed, and the results for bearing smoothness, speed, free spin, outshine the other methods by far and every time I have done this method the bearings are better than new.
It does take some time, so I would allocate 30 minutes if you are using this method.
Use the tip of a small screwdriver, or pin, to push out the bearing cage. Do this pushing from the side of the bearing balls. The cage will fall out but the balls will stay in place.
Place the bearing flat on a microfiber towel, and then use the pin or the flat head screwdriver that you used to push the cage out to move all the balls over to one side. Then slide the inner circular piece of the bearing away from the balls, with minor force it will disengage from the balls. The bearing can now be taken apart.
Scrub the outer and inner ring surfaces with the microfiber towel until no more dirt comes off. The balls usually just require a rolling on the microfiber towel. No need to use cleaner at all here…
Scrub the plastic nylon cage under running water with a toothbrush and dish soap. Rinse and blow dry well.
Now place the balls inside the larger bearing piece, flat on the microfiber towel. Slide the balls to one side, and place the smaller inner piece inside as well. Use the pin or screwdriver to arrange the balls roughly in the right area, and then apply the cage so that it engages two or more balls.
The entire unit can then be lifted and the bearing flipped over, and the cage pressed in place. Adjust the balls slightly if needed so they fit into the cage.
Give it a spin – better than new!
Applying lubrication
While you can run your bearings without lubricant, this is generally only recommended for Bones Raw (which have a baked on, dry film lubricant), or ceramics. Note that if running ceramics dry, the ceramic balls will not rust but the bearing races themselves may.
Grease vs Oil
Grease is generally longer lasting than oil, but definitely will slow you down or at least require more pushing for a given distance if overpacked. Recommendations elsewhere suggest 1/3rd packed full, but I guarantee you that will be too much resistance.
A very light oil such as white lithium grease is ideal, though getting one with molybdenum additives for the high pressure can be useful too.
I have tried mixing various greases with a carrier that should evaporate, such as paint or lacquer thinner, tried applying with syringes, but the best method is the simplest. Just use a toothpick or similar and apply a small amount to each ball – the total amount should only be around 2 matchstick heads.
Rub with your finger and roll the bearing to spread. It won’t free spin, but it will feel smooth when you are riding and will last quite a while.
I have tried a variety of oils, and my article on different skate lubricants can be useful for different ideas. If you are going with an oil, the lighter the better as I have not found much difference in terms of longevity compared to thicker oils.
Bones speed cream, Singer sewing oil, and Tri Flo (especially Tri Flo!) would be fine.
Just apply the equivalent of 1-2 drops then spread out by spinning the bearing. Expect the bearing to be less fast and free spinning than when dry – that is expected.
Reinstalling the shields
Importantly, make sure the shields are flat. They may have been bent when you removed them. I usually clean them with alcohol or simple green, then lay flat on a clean part of the table, rubber side out, and press as flat as we can.
Apply the shield back on, and press in gently to not bend again (important!).
Should you go shieldless?
I would only go shieldless in clean areas. I am not very worried about dirt and rust, or the bearings going slower (my Bronson Raw’s are shieldless and plenty fast when they look filthy) BUT my son also took a huge tumble when skating down the road. No rocks in sight, no sticks, nothing – just gliding along without pushing and one wheel stopped. The only explanation is dust or tiny pebbles getting into the bearing at the wrong spot and making it stop suddenly.
Since the road was clear, it was likely just small dust / debris that was in the wheel core already. Shields would have prevented that – the minor extra speed is not worth it.,
Putting the bearings back on the trucks
This is quite simple – but be sure to have a speed ring on the axle first. The speed ring should have one completely flat side, and one round side – the round side should face the bearing. Once the speedring is on – put on one bearing, followed by the spacer, then place the last bearing in the same direction as the first bearing.
This will allow you to take the wheel, and press the outside facing side onto the bearing, pressing the bearing into the wheel.
Remove the wheel with the bearing, flip it around, press on and then put the final speed ring on – again with the rounded side facing the bearing.
Finally the nut goes on – careful with your skate tool that you don’t press hard into the bearing as it may bend the shield again. Some tools are designed to prevent this but most are not.
If your spacers are sized correctly, you should be able to tighten the nut all the way, without any side to side play, and the wheel will still spin very freely. If the spacers are a bit too small, then you may have to back off ⅛-¼ turn to get the wheel getting its max spin.
Breaking them in
That’s it! Sometimes you may have to skate for a bit to break them in and distribute the lubricant, particularly with grease, but the ride should be nice and smooth now!