Replacing Skyway Tuff BMX wheel bearings, axles and cups

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A few tips for restoring Skyway Utility Tuff BMX wheels. 

I’ve always been a bit reluctant to buy old or vintage second hand Skyway Tuffs BMX wheels on eBay. They get thrashed and hence are known to have problems.

The main issues are warping and cracks, neither can be repaired and render the wheels useless, and given it’s eBay you can’t view the item first. That said I recently went against my better judgement and purchased a rough second hand set of 2001 Skyway Tuff BMX wheels (reasonably cheap).

When I got the wheels, they didn’t seem to have any cracks, but the old school 10mm or 3/8″ wheel axles had been removed and the original bearing cups altered to fit newer style 14mm wheel axles- which i’m guessing didn’t work out that well because the wheels were in pretty bad shape. Neither Tuff wheel would spin, so I couldn’t tell if they were warped. But anyway, I was determined to fix them up.

skyway-OE-BMX-tuff-wheels

After removing the poorly fitted 14mm axles I gave the wheels a thorough clean. To figure out what items I needed to purchase, I fitted and old set of 10mm axles that I had spare and a set of bearings into the altered bearing cups. They spun really badly, so I guessed the whole axle kit needed to be replaced.

I purchased an entire Skyway Tuff hub refurb kit off eBay for front and back for $29.99 each wheel. I could have gone for just an axle cup and dust cover kit for $14.99 each, but decided on the whole thing just to be sure I had everything I might need.

skyway-tuff-replacement-hub-parts-kit

First task was to remove the axle cups. I placed the Skyway Tuff wheel on a piece of wood at the hub so the force would hit at the plastic part of the hub and not the metal part. Using a long punch pin inserted into the hub, I gently (understatement) knocked the lower cup out from the inside. Once the cups were removed it was easier to remove the stuck freewheel and give the entire hub a wipe and final clean.

replacing-skyway-tuff-bearings-tools-and-cups

To inset the new bearing cups, I again placed the Skyway Tuff wheel on a piece of wood at the hub so the force would hit at the plastic part of the hub and not the metal part. I then gently (more so than before) knocked the new cups in until they were flush with the hub.

replacing-skyway-tuff-bearings-and-regreasing

I decided not to open the rest of new Skyway Tuff replacement axle kit, and re-test the spare axle I had. The cups were greased, bearings and axles inserted. The dust caps on the spare axle cones fitted the Skyway Hub cups perfectly and the wheels span very well. The front does have a slight warp, not the end of the world, and the rear is perfectly straight. I now have spare axle kits I can resell or keep for another project saving me a few $$$ on this refurb. 

Do you have a pair of Skyway Tuff BMX wheels that need refurbishing? What success have you had at restoring Skyway Tuff BMX wheels? We’d love to hear your stories and thoughts.

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mid-school restoration skyway tuff wheel

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