Replacing Ball bearings in jack swivel casters

[bigw1231]

If anyone can tell me how or point me in the right direction on how to replace the ball bearings in the swivel casters on the rear of my floor jack it sure would be greatly appreciated! I had asked this question on my Marquette Model floor jack thread but I think maybe it got lost there. So anyone?!
Thanks!

 

[gungatim]

the last one I did, the casters unbolted but did not come apart to replace the lost ball bearings. I scrapped them and welded on some new steel wheels from home depot to the ears in place of the original stud mounted ones...hope that helps

 

[lilredex]

It is an easy chore if it comes apart like the one pictured, but normally they are held together permanently with a long rivet. You could just replace the unit as above, or if you really want it original, you could tip up a small section of that race and drop in the new balls. The normal count is one less ball than full (and lots of grease.

My picture shows what happens with no maintenance.

 

[Jolomite]

Wowsers! I would call that more than normal wear and tear. More like, "Drive it like ya stole it!" Haha!

Thank you for the lesson on repacking the swivel. Good to know how full to load it.

I've been poking around for caster wheels lately in order to replace the dolly wheels on my Grandfather's scratch built table saw stand. Turns out that the size he used (3" Outside Diam., 1" Hub length, 5/16" Bore Diam.) are not common in the supply houses like Grainger, McMaster Carr, etc.

 

[1930artdeco]

Somewhere-I think in this thread-someone posted a website where all they sell are castors of different sizes, metals and types. Sorry I can't remember the site name. But they did have the old style cast iron ones that are used on carts. So maybe they will have yours if you can't get yours fixed.

Mike

 

[StillTooManyHobbies]

Try surpluscenter.com for caster wheels. I am sure there are other sites too.

3" od, 1" bore length, 5/16 bore: http://www.surpluscenter.com/Wheels.../3-x-1-TENTE-GREY-TENTEPRENE-WHEEL-1-5152.axd

 

[Jolomite]

Thank you, StillTooManyHobbies. That may just work. The load capacity listed for that item at surpluscenter is 165 pounds. Well, as a rough guess I would say that the table saw I'm looking to mount them on weighs in that ballpark.

If I have a saw that weighs X and I plan to roll it around on two wheels, how would I calculate the load on each wheel? Each wheel would support 1/2 of X, right?

 

[StillTooManyHobbies]

Yes each wheel would support about 1/2 the total weight. The 165 lb rating is per wheel, not for a set so if your saw is less than 330 lb you would be good to go. They have a 3-1/8 wheel rated for 220 lb, but it is much wider.

 

[bigw1231]

Just came back on and thank you so much for the reply. Your "The normal count is one less ball than full (and lots of grease.)" was exactly what I was looking for!!