ASR 5 Bearings

[climberdave]

Hey Guys,

ASR 5 owner here with a bearing issue.  About a month ago I ordered (from yeti) and replaced the main pivot and dogbone bearings in my 2011 ASR 5. Last Friday I pulled the frame apart to contemplate drilling my frame for a Reverb Stealth - didn't happen - and I noticed that two of the dogbone bearings and one of the pivot bearings were already starting to feel gritty.   Fast forward to today when I'm scouring the internet for a cheaper source of bearings and stumble across Real World Cycling (RWC) who sell, well, bearings.  I emailed RWC to confirm if what they sell is indeed what I need - 6903 MAX and 698 MAX Ext Race 1.5 - and was told that Yeti has it wrong regarding the 698 MAX - E bearings and the real number is 398 MAX-E (measures 8mm inside X 19mm Outside X 10 Wide Body with 11mm overall due to extended race).  I even rechecked Yeti's site and the bearings that they have in the pictures for their rebuild kits have 698 RS stamped on them (the guy from RWC said that Yeti could have anything stamped on the bearing).

So my question is - which bearing is correct 698 MAX-E 1.5 or 398 MAX E? 

Thanks in advance

P.s.  I live in the PNW and ride in some pretty miserable conditions most of the year - hence short bearing life  

[Andrew]

New yeti bearing kit I have here is 698. They are the ones with the extended centre part.

398 and 698 are same internal and diameter dimensions, but 398 is 8mm wide and 698 is 4mm wide.

Your best bet is to use 'Enduro bearings' . They are pretty much the best, and are what comes in the yeti bearing kits.

Andrew

[Andrew]

Scrap the width,

It's 5&10 mm +1 for the lip. Not 4 & 8.

[climberdave]

Thanks Andrew! So to be clear 698 MAX E (8mm X 19mm X 6mm/7.5) is the correct size, not 398 MAX E (8mm X 19mm X 10/11mm)? I'm sorry to say that I haven't had a chance to pull the dogbone off to measure the bearings, but hopefully tonight I will.

RWC Bearings are Enduro MAX bearings and I'm just looking for a cheaper source and hopefully a better weather seal. I contacted Yeti about the bearings feeling gritty and they said that that was normal, but the words gritty, bearings, and normal just don't sit too well with me. If this doesn't work I'll just continue to source bearings from Yeti.


www.enduroforkseals.com/index.html


While we're on the subject of things that move - In addition to replacing the suspension bearings I also replaced the DU bushings with the new polymer ones from Fox (kit size 8mm X 21.84). Yesterday I noticed that the top of the shock measures 8 X 22 while the bottom measures 8 X 23.5

With only the top of the shock installed in the frame (using the correct torque specs) the shock will just hang in mid-air; unlike with the old DU bushings where the shock fell and hit the frame

Is 21.84 the correct size for both?

Once again - Thanks is advance

[Andrew]

The yeti bearing kit I have contains Enduro bearings, I sometimes wonder if the production ones are a lower quality than the replacements they sell??

I know the last dogbone I sold had black bearing seals and the bearing kit has blue.

Does the shock move with minimal force? It should be firm, but move with a little pressure. That pivot hardly moves, so it should not hinder performance, also those new ones last longer.

Not quite sure on the size, but 22mm ring a bell. I'll look into it.

[climberdave]

Just to update this. I figured out the issue. It seems as if the ASR 7's doggone uses 398 MAX E bearings and the ASR 5 uses 698 MAX E bearings so the guy at RWC was just confused. Also, the bottom bushing for the rear shock is indeed 8x23.5.

Everything arrived in the mail today so now I just need to receive my shock from PUSH, my fork back from FOX (had internals updated to 2014 specs) and reassemble.

Cheers