Tight Axles

[rickster2]

On my 2012 300 that I bought used, the axles are super tight going in/out. The rear, I have to hammer out with a punch. I'm thinking the inner race of the bearings are corroded and the axle is hanging at the bearings area. There is no play in the bearings so I'm not excited about removing them.

Anyone else have issues like this?

Rick
2012 EC300 R

 

[Neil E.]

Did the axle have grease on it or was it dry? If the bearings feel good and there is no moisture around them, they are probably OK. Sometimes the axle is overtightened distorting the axle spacer which then makes it hard to remove the axle. If you reach down inside the hub, can you wiggle the spacer at all? If the spacer is not bound up and the bearings turn smoothly, look for marks on the axle. One good sized ding can make the axle hard to remove.

 

[singletracker]

I started a thread on this awhile back. You're not alone.

 

[rickster2]

I don't see any high spots on the axle. I will check the spacer but the bearings seem fine given what I can turn with my finger. The whole assembly is well greased now but the bike had evidence of being in water or very muddy conditions, or both.

I'm considering running sand paper across the axle to take down the OD until I get an easy insertion. But I hate to alter the axle if it is the bearings. Hence, my post to get feedback to determine if it is typical or something specific to my bike.

 

[mcnut]

When I replaced my bearings a while back, I had a tight one. I'm pretty sure the spacer was not aligned perfectly when I seated the bearings. It wasn't horrible and seemed to work itself out.

 

[STEVEV]

Just went through this also. On my '12 300, it appeared as if the inner spacer was too long. The ends were mushroomed big time. I measured the distance between the bearings and machined the spacer to match that. Slides together nice now.

 

[wence]

Mine is the same.
It has to do with the spacers. I can see they are not lined up properly .
I will be fixing it when the bearings need changing.
Chees Mark

 

[Clay]

Steve and Wence are correct. The inner spacer is mushroomed.

 

[singletracker]

Mine must have been mushroomed at the factory because it's been that way since day #1.

 

[rickster2]

I'm going to have to fix mine sooner or else carry a 8 inch punch in my tool pack because I have to beat my rear axle out of the hub. At least I know the problem - thanks guys.

 

[bkwdc]

Same here. Since day one.

 

[GMP]

How could this happen from assembly without destroying the bearings? Even if they were over torqued, and the spacer collapsed slightly, there would be a lot of axial load across the bearings and bind the wheel. Could the internal spacers too long or cut unevenly?


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[STEVEV]

mine was mushroomed evenly around the diameter on each end. The aluminum is pretty soft.

 

[GMP]

I know the workers at the Husky factory have a problem reading a torque wrench, just about had to stand on a breaker bar to free the linkage bolts on two of my brother's bikes. GGs seemed OK when torn down, except for the triple clamps.

 

[rickster2]

Follow-up on my tight axle. Thanks for the input from all. Clearly, my spacer was mushroomed at the ends that contact the inner race of the bearings. I removed the right-side bearing and used a round file to take down the high spots inside of my spacer until my axle passed though the spacer with very little effort. When installed, Tthe axle is supported by the inner race of the bearings and extra play between the axle and the spacer is a non-issue, I believe.

I tried to think of the purpose for spacers within a hub. I'm thinking it adds medial support to the bearing inner race, helps guide the axle to the opposite side bearing inner race during installation, and maybe helps keeps dirt away from the bearing. I've had bikes over the years with loose fitting inner spacers that tilted easily to allow the punch to engage the inner race during bearing removal. For example, YZ 250's seem to have a lot of play in the spacer and it did not bear any load between the inner races of the wheel bearings when installed. Any other thoughts on that?

An easy fix but has to be done with the spacer out of the hub to avoid filing the inner race of the wheel bearings. Of course, the aluminum spacer material cuts very easy compared to the inner race of the bearing so maybe it would not be an issue filing the spacer while installed in the hub. The right side bearing is a standard 6004 double seal bearing, cheap and easy to find, so may as well do it right and remove and replace the bearing when doing this job.

Rick