Bearing Pulling Tips

[Brewcrafter]

Had a 113H on the bench today, and figured that while most folks probably already are pretty familiar with this, it certainly wouldn't hurt to do a quick review of bearing extraction on a classic Penn star drag - which can be a challenge especially the first time.  There are many different ways to do this, this is just the way I approach it.  Let's start with a photo of a disassembled tail plate bearing assembly from a 113H; typical for most classic Penn star drags:

Here we see (left to right) the bearing cup, bearing, and bearing retainer.  Let me begin with some background.  It may be very tempting to attempt to remove the bearing from the bearing cup while the cup is still threaded into the tailplate since it gives a good purchase to grip on.  This is a great way to break a side plate (ask me how I know  )  So begin by removing the entire assembly from the plate, and depending on how gunked up it is soak with your solvent of choice as detailed in many other AT threads (WD40, lacquer thinner, ATF, PB Blaster, Acetone, IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol, NOT the beer) etc.....).  The retainer is easily pried out using a small screwdriver, etc as a lever.  Make sure you are only prying on the retainer, NOT the bearing itself.  OK, now that it has been soaking, time to pull the bearing.  Start by finding an appropriate size socket in your toolbox:


When I say appropriately sized, you want the smallest size that the bearing cup will fit into but the knurled ridge will be fully supported on the outside of the socket, like so:


Now it is time to get down to business; chucking up the socket in a bench vise and reaching in with your bearing remover tool of choice.  There are many AT Threads devoted to bearing removers, whether it is a nail with a portion of the head ground down, industrial cotter keys with notches ground into them, or snap ring pliers with grip notches ground into them.  There are most likely other options as well.  They all work, they all have their place.  For this operation I went with the classic coat hanger with a small hook on the end, wrapped around a hammer handle for grip:


A quick tug and the bearing is out, trapped inside the socket and with no broken sideplate.  There are MANY threads elsewhere detailing bearing maintenance, so I won't go into that here, but having a golf pencil (or in this case, an old piece of dowel that I used while repairing a couple of elementary school pencil sharpeners) and it is easy to give a quick spin and feel for any roughness or other issues that could indicate a bad bearing in need of replacement:



Now, when you get to the other side of the reel (the head plate) more than likely you will have to "white knuckle" and remove it from the plate since the bearing cups in many cases are integral into the plate.  Again, soak with your solvent of choice, and try to support the plate as evenly as possible across as much of its area as possible while pulling the bearing.
Easy peasy!  Again, there are many other threads covering bearing maintenance, or you can even go with full replacement.  Since at this point everything should be freshly cleaned and lubed, reassembly should be pretty straightforward and everything go back together with a lot less effort.  Remember to keep the threaded tailplate cup very loose in the tailplate until your reel is fully assembled, and after everything is buttoned up only THEN tighten the bearing cup to achieve proper side:side play on your spool.  Fully installing the bearing cup prior to assembling the side plates onto the reel can result in not leaving enough clearance, and as you tighten the sideplate screws very bad things can happen (again, ask me how I know  ).  Good luck! - john

[Hardy Boy]

Good tips. Nice work.

Todd

[Bryan Young]

That's a very nice write up John (@Brewcrafter). Thank you for sharing your experiences and lessons learned in your tutorial. I like the socket method as I commonly screw the bearing cap back into the tail plate for greater leverage and lucky enough not have broken a tail plate yet. But I'm sure it was coming so the socket method would surely be a great new method for me.

[Donnyboat]

Thank you John, good idea, cheers Don.

[oldmanjoe]

Had a 113H on the bench today


Now, when you get to the other side of the reel (the head plate) more than likely you will have to "white knuckle" and remove it from the plate since the bearing cups in many cases are integral into the plate.  Again, soak with your solvent of choice, and try to support the plate as evenly as possible across as much of its area as possible while pulling the bearing.

Is it possible to set the socket in the vise sticking out and pull the bearing into the socket ?
Giving the head plate more support for a stubborn bearing  .  Something like this .

[Brewcrafter]

Slick idea Joe, I hadn't thought about that approach! - john

[Benni3]

Getter done jonh,,,,,,