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The obvious advantage to doing this is that you don't have to rebuild and true your wheel and you'll save a bunch of money.

First, check that the bearings look like they will be the same size. The hub that I got was a Shimano 475. The hub on my wheel is a 525. The dust caps are different, but the diameter is the same, so I decided to go for it and they are compatible. Next, you have to disasemble the hub and pull the ball bearings out. I used a magnet and my punch to pick them out. You can find all sorts of info on replacing the ball bearings in your hub. I'll take it a bit further and replace the races. Remember to keep things clean. You dont want some grit getting into your new bearings and toasting them right away.

Once the balls are removed, take your punch and hammer out the inner race and dust cap. I cut a hole in a chunk of 2×4 and rested the hub in it to make room for the race to drop out. You could easily use a vice, just keep track of your parts when they pop out of the hub.

Hold the punch firmly and hammer from one side to the other. Keep checking the race to determine which side you should be hitting. Don't keep hitting the same side or you'll do some kind of damage. Try to keep your punch as verticle as possible, and make sure it is well seated aganst the race. You want to hit where the race meets the hub, not on the edge of the hole in the middle of the race. Use your old quick-release bolt as a handy punch. You get a new one with your hub so don't worry about messing up the threads.

Hammer the punch firmly. It may not be easy to un-seat the race, but it will come loose. Lighten up as the race gets closer to the edge. Double check that the races are the correct size and repeate the process on your wheel. Clean your parts and get ready to put your new races into your wheel!

Find yourself a socket that is slightly narrower than the diameter of your race.

Hammer the race into the hub. Lift the socket after every blow to ensure that the race is going in straight!

Hammer it right to the bottom, and make sure it is well seated. If it's not all the way to the bottom, it'll shift the first time you ride your bike and toast your new bearings. You guessed it: make sure everythings clean!

Next, pop in the dust-caps and tap them down. They go in easy, so don't go nuts with the hammer.

Fill the entire race / dust-cap area with bearing grease. I put a fair bit on my finger tip, wipe it onto the edge of the dust-cap, then push it into the gap between the race and the dust-cap.

Put your clean balls back in the race and re-assemble your hub. Don't over tighten your axle: if the bearing pre-load is too high, you'll toast your bearings. Likewise if your axle is ……. nevermind, this ought to be regular maintenance type stuff, so I'll leave it to you.

Lesson: regularly check your hubs for proper operation so you don't have to do unnecessary repairs.

Grip it and rip it.

Tyler.