Mounting and maintenance tools

Hammer a new bearing into place and it is damaged before it ever runs. The blows travel through the rolling elements and dent the raceways; the bearing turns and seems fine, then fails a few months later and nobody can say why.

Bearing fitting kits cover the basics: sleeves and impact rings that push on the correct ring and not the other one. Drive the inner ring when the tight fit is on the shaft, the outer ring when it is in the housing, and never apply force through the balls.

For medium and large bearings, induction heaters are the right way to mount. The bearing grows a few tenths of a millimeter, slides onto the shaft without force and grips tightly as it cools. There is no open flame, no hot oil bath and no damage to the steel's heat treatment, which is exactly what a torch destroys.

Pullers handle removal, and they are the tool shops most often lack. Without one, removal turns into heat and pry bars, the shaft seat gets damaged, and the next bearing inherits the problem.

Laser alignment tools address the other leading cause of early failure. A motor out of line with the driven machine wears out the bearings on both sides, the coupling and the seal. Correcting it takes about an hour, and the savings show up in the year's spare parts spending.

These are the tools people rarely buy ahead of time, and the ones they most wish they had once the machine is down.