Power Kite Forum

buggy rear wheels

v-tek - 11-7-2016 at 10:54 AM

I haven't take the rear wheels off my Libre in awhile and I feel like I have forgotten how. I know they were an effort to put on but now years later I can't get them off. I assumed they are counter clock bolts but even with my torqe wrench I can't get them to budge. What's the deal?

bigkid - 11-7-2016 at 11:15 AM

They will break free as soon as you show then who's boss. Lefty loosey, righty tighty. Use a bit of WD-40 or some penitrating oil.

bugymangp - 11-7-2016 at 11:25 AM

I wrap my rear wheel bolts with plumbing Teflon tape
Works good it's clean and I never had a problem with wheels falling off
Or loosening bolts

Blitzhound - 12-7-2016 at 06:00 PM

You can try applying some heat with a torch. to the outer part of the axle where the bolt threads into. It's probably just rusted in pretty good. In the future. Remember anti-seize is your friend.

bigkid - 12-7-2016 at 07:19 PM

Careful with the heat on the axle, to much will burn the powdercoat and expose the galvanizing underneath. Galvanize smoke is very dangerous to breath.

Blitzhound - 16-7-2016 at 09:30 AM

You don't need to get it so hot that you burn the paint. Your just warming it up to cause the metal to expand. If you're not comfortable with this method I wouldn't do it anyway. Try letting it set for a day or two with some penetrating oil. We use Kroil a lot on the ships. I find it penetrates better than WD40 but that's just my personal opinion. Remember "Righty tighty! Lefty loosy!" Or Clockwise to tighten. Counterclockwise to loosen.

Thanks for the Disclaimer Bigkid. I didn't think I need to state the obvious to a grown man but...better safe then sorry.

Disclaimer:
Also...Just a bit of advice. A torque wrench is a precision calibrated tool. You should never use it to loosen nuts or bolts. That's what breaker bars are for. I know it has a selector for both directions. But you can throw off the calibration breaking fasteners loose. A breaker bar and a piece of pipe big enough to fit over the handle can work miracles! Or an impact wrench can work magic on tough bolts as well.

Another Disclaimer:
you should never use an impact wrench to tighten nuts and/or bolts it's to easy to strip the threads or cross thread them and/or over tighten and break the bolt or stud.

And another Disclaimer:
Caution: Do not operate Toaster while in the Shower.

bigkid - 16-7-2016 at 10:28 AM

Haha, I like toast in the shower. Mostly while watching tv.

V-tek, does your axle have the chamber adjuster or just the strait axle? If the bolt is stock, it might be stainless. If so you will need to add some penitrating oil to help break it free. As blitz said use a breaker bar or a price of pipe on the end of a wratchet. You might even use a 2lb sledge hammer to pop it loose. A sharp smack square on the head of the bolt in the direction of the axle will help to pop it loose. Not a full swing to drive it into the next county, about the same force as driving a 16 penny nail into a board. That's the way we did it when I was building nuclear power plants at Hanford.:o

ssayre - 16-7-2016 at 11:01 AM

I'm a big fan of blaster for penetrating oil. Also the length of pipe on a ratchet always works good too. I keep a length of galvanized fence post in the garage for just that reason. just used it and blaster to break lug nuts loose on a recently acquired used car. I don't know if they were over tightened or just hadn't been off in a long time but they were the tightest lug nuts I had ever removed. Usually a good 4 way provide all the leverage I need but not this time. I even had my body builder neighbor give it a try to make sure I wasn't being a puss. He couldn't get it either. With self esteem intact, I grabbed the pipe and easily broke them loose.

Blitzhound - 16-7-2016 at 12:20 PM

Haha! Some call them cheater pipes. I call them equalizers haha. PB Blaster is another good penetrating oil. We pretty much just use WD40 for cleaning parts. Then again. There are very few bolts in the Engineroom that do not have anti-seize on them. In fact I can probably count them on one hand and tell you exactly where they are. They're not anti-seized for a reason. I work in a 740 foot steal bubble floating in saltwater. Rust is just a part of life. Maybe that's all my aching joints need is some penetrating oil. I think they're starting to rust. Haha!

He has camber adjusters on the rear axle Bigkid.

Giving it a good solid rap with a heavy hammer is another good way also. As Bigkid suggested.