- This topic has 6 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 17 years, 7 months ago by
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Ok, I am ready to take out my first (don’t laugh) axle. I have several questions.
1. Do I need two people?
2. Should I loosen the bearings in their carriers or keep them tight?
3. Should I take the whole thing out of the chassis and beat on the bearings with a hammer? (well, ok a soft hammer)
4. Should I use heat?
5. How many beers will this take?
6. I have an 8 lb sledge. Will that be big enough?1. No
2. If you’re talking about the pinch bolts in the cassettes, yes. It your talking about the cassettes, No.
3. No
4. No
5. That’s up to you. Once you get it down, you can do it in 15 minutes. How many beers do you need for 15 minutes of work?
6. A 3# hammer is more than enough to wreck it.The first thing you should do is clean. Clean the axle, clean the cassettes, clean the bearings. Dirt is your number one enemy so clean it up first. Remove the set screws completely and wash out the set screw holes. Dirt will be in them and it will make you job much more difficult.
The next thing is polish the axle. Use 320 or 400 grit cloth for this job. There will be burrs, nicks and other damage from rocks hitting the axle. When you try to shove these burrs and nicks through the bearings, it comes back to bit you.
Spray the axle/bearing interface with some penetrating oil. Take your hammer (soft faced) and gently tap the end of the axle, it should move with some difficulty but it should move. If you have been using the set screws to hold the axle in place, it may take a bit of persuasion to get it moving.
The set screws really screw up the axle surface. As soon as they are clear of the bearings, take a file and file the axle smooth where the set screws have been digging into the surface of the axle. Continue to persuade the axle out of the kart and keep checking for burr and dirt. If you get dirt in the bearing/axle interface, it will start a gaul and there is nothing you can do except beat the axle out, then throw it away.
Once the old axle is out, get a hold of a ball hone of the correct size and do a quick hone of the brake hub, bearings and sprocket carrier. It will make assembly much easier.
If you do a good job of cleaning before you start to remove the axle, your job will be simple. If not, you will need every bit of that 8# BFH to get it out.
And one more thing, an axle removal tool is very helpful once you get to the bearing.
No way! Even I have removed my axle, and my Post Count is waaay lower. 😛
I would’ve benefited from Doug’s post when I took mine out, but I just took my time, made sure everything was loose before I got the hammer out, and used plenty of good ol’ PB Blaster Penetrating Magnetic Lubricant (As Seen On Tee Vee!). Having a purpose-made axle removal tool helps a ton and prevents damage to the end of the axle.
The main problem I faced was that, before I bought the kart, one of the collar set screws had managed to “walk” all the way around the axle. This left a really rough ring that was a pain to drive through the bearings and other items. If I’d had a clue, I would’ve smoothed out that area with emery cloth as soon as it was exposed instead of driving it through. Live and learn… 😳
Nice set of instructions, Doug! I hadn’t thought of using a ball hone–another tool to add to the collection!
Doug tactfully didn’t really mention the axle removal tool he sells–it’s a great item, not only for getting the axle through the bearings, but also for moving the bearings in the cassette to line them up.
Nice set of instructions, Doug! I hadn’t thought of using a ball hone–another tool to add to the collection!
Doug tactfully didn’t really mention the axle removal tool he sells–it’s a great item, not only for getting the axle through the bearings, but also for moving the bearings in the cassette to line them up.
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