Rear Wheel Nightmare.....HELP!

[WildBill2566]

Ok guys,

The front wheel was a breeze once I got the 1/4" socket as you suggested, axel was good so I just lathered it in copper grease when I re-assembled it.

had a go at the rear today, and although the manual says it just slides out, I've tried bashing it out with a rubber mallett and even tried a 7lb sledge (I did protect the end of the axel before the sledge came out;) )but the axel wont budge at all. I can twist it ok but it will not slide out.

I'm guessing that its corroded and siezed to the bearings or the internal bearing spacer. I guess the muppets at the factory didnt bother greasing it up at assembly . Any ideas, as I dont really want to take it to the dealer, I have a tyre but I bet the dealer will charge a couple of hundred quid for the privaledge of fitting it.

At the moment I've tried to get some WD40 to seep in but I am not too hopefull it will penetrate enough.

I've done a quick search on the site, but cant believe I am the only poor unfortunate.

Any help suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

[BaZa ®]

Oh dear, this does happen every now and again depends how the bike is maintained. As you say if you have never had it out before then the mo co were tight on the grease.

You could try heating it but that process can cause more surrounding damage

Just keep getting as much penetrating oil in and leave it to penetrate.
Lean the bike over slightly so it can run in. The problem is the brake bracket side where the alloy meets the steel and it rusts. You have to just keep hitting it when the wd40 is in there. Leave it over night but keep putting more on. Be careful that you do not bend the swinging arm! wrenches have been known to have to get a hacksaw between anywhere where you can get in and cut the axle and then chisel it out, but this is very rare. But second hand axles are only a tenner.

Good luck get penetrating.

[Noddy]

Hi Bill.

Sorry to hear about the problem. I've been told of similar things before due to lack of grease from new. If the WD40 way does not work, then I'm sorry its time to roll the sleeves up even further.

It will be a case of removing the swinging arm and wheel complete... and a wander to your local engineering shop that has a hydraulic press and asking them very nicely to push the axle out while the arm is supported. Be very, very careful with that sledge hammer, its not too difficult to bend the swinging arm as Baza mentioned.

Good luck.

[Roger]

Baz, is right: heat the spindle with a blowlamp and let it cool. WD40 is not very good as a penetrating oil, try plus-gas or mix sewing machine oil (or gun oil) with parafin 3:1, lean the bike over (well supported). Make a well around the end of the spindle with plasticine. Fill up and leave overnight.

[BaZa ®]

WildBill2566.....Come back and tell us how you are doing with your rear end???

[SalTheWop]

Sorry to hijack the thread ,but thinking about this got me wondering.
When I had the last sporty , I had to have a puncture repaired.I took it to a tyre shop and the guy had some problems removing the axle.It was very corroded,this was on a relatively new bike.Would it be a good idea to remove the axle and coat it in copper grease, just as a preventative measure? Or is that going a bit far?

[Mr B]

No Sal, I don't think that's going too far. If the axles won't come out on a relatively new bike, what chance do you have if it's several years old and been through all weathers.
I for one will be removing my axles now while the bike is in hibernation so that if I need them out in a hurry later on, I won't face the problem when I need the bike to ride. At the same time, I can polish up under the mudguards.

Brian.

[WildBill2566]

Success, and thanks for the moral support guys.

I would strongly suggest that as soon as you get a new bike, pull the axels and give em a good coat of copper grease, shouldnt take more than an hour tops. Mt bike is not yet two years old and the rear axel was seized solid. When I got it out I could see that it had never been greased, not even a token dab.

Anyway just in case some other poor bugger gets the same problem this is how I resolved it, and I must say I feel a little smug with the idea I came up with.

1. I took the advice from the guys on the forum and got some proper penetrating oil, just got a can of Halfords 'Professional Penetrating Oil'. gave it a good spray, left it for 20 mins, another good spray, another 20 mins, and another good spray. I'm sure you are seeing the trend, anyway did this 4 times.

2. Now me smug bit, a couple of years ago I was doing some work on the house and bought myself one of those huge electric drills which also has a hammer only action for breaking up concrete. I got it from B&Q for about £50. It also has a normal chuck which fits in the end. Anyway I took a 3/8 3" extension bar and fixed it in the chuck so the female end was outermost.Put the castle nut on back to front and wound it down so that only about 1mm of axel stood proud, which I placed the female end of the extension bar on. Made sure the drill was set to hammer only and set to. Moved it almost straight away, and absolutly no damage to any of the components. It sort of vibrated it out.

Hope that all makes sense.

Anyway the wheel is off, new pads installed, axel cleaned up, polished and lathered with copper grease ready for the install, and will get the tyre fitted on Monday.

[BaZa ®]

Well done...Nice innit when things work out well.

Now if you could put it all back together for us and take some digi photos and go through it all again then post your photos and 'Tec Tip' on the site and send it to the quin... ;)

[chilly]

Just took a spindle out of a mates 05 sporty,that has corrosion and no grease,wouldn't have been long before he would have a problem,seems like poor assembly is happening here.

Well done Bill.

Chill