Rear Wheel Nut - there must be an answer
 

A few months back I took off my rear wheel for a tyre change. The hub nut was a complete bitch, and needed a 4 foot extension on the breaker bar before I could shift it.

When it went back on I made sure to Copaslip all of the threads, and torque the nut correctly, figuring next time would be easier.

This weekend the wheel had to come off so I could fit some nice magnesium pressies in its place.

The following tools died terrible deaths attempting to remove the nut -

2 half inch slide bars
2 half inch breaker bars, including my neighbours
2 half inch ratchets, including my favourite Teng.

Heated the nut for 10 mins with a hot air gun. Nope.
Tried to drift it - no good.

Eventually I had to carefully cut the ******* off.

I know an air tool would be likely to shock the nut loose, but this is not really an option at my home garage.

I'm going to invest in a 3 quarter inch breaker bar, but I would like to aviod the brute force method if I can.

So does anyone have cunning tips to avoid this problem happenning next time?

I will be going to the track soon, and as I now have spare wheels I will be likely to want to swap between wet and dry tyres without too much hassle.


Any suggestions welcome.

Spinoli

Electric Impact Wrench, £25 from Argos:
http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/st...oductId=127809

Runs off a 12v battery, so just hook it up to your bike battery and off you go.

I bought one for a tenner in their last sale and it works a treat.

3/4 loooooooonnnnngg breaker bar does the job.

Yep thats what i have a 3/4 '' ratchet and just do it as tight as i can with that i know its tight enough and isn't gonna come off with safety clip in place and that zip tied together. Also helps with the ducati paddock stand with the bar to stop the wheel

I use the rear brake to stop the wheel, saves potential damage to the wheel, cunning eh! :cool:

I use a long 1/2" breaker bar to undo it, never had any problems with that.

Except you'll damage the rear master cylinder instead!

The trick I find is not just the brute force aproach - with a long breaker bar, with the bike on the workshop stand and the tube in place to stop the wheel turning, "crack" the bar suddenly, rather than slowly increasing the pressure.
When all else fails I resort to my trusty impact wrench though!

3/4 breaker bar get someone to sit on it and apply the rear brake not had any problems.

I've got a length of scaffold tube about 3 foot long that works wonders on stubborn nuts to give a bit of extra leverage on the breaker bar - have also found sometimes gently bouncing the bar as you appy pressure will get them moving

Maybe, but it's a darn sight cheaper to replace than a wheel! :)

Like i said if you get a decient paddock it has a bar that goes through to stop the wheels with a nice rubber handle on to stop any damage to the wheel. Clever them blokes at ducati Cant be that bad either as the wsb team used then

Here's a cheap method but one that works evrytime and aint gonna break under pressure.

17mm allen key (bought for relative peanuts compared to 1/2" t-bars and wrenches that do break.)

I have an old fork leg for leverage, but scaffold poles etc work just as well.

Only drawback I have now is stopping the bike from 'walking' across the floor as I bounce on the bar.

Another 'top-tip' from the anals of the Ducati 748R graveyard known as my garage.



Guido

I use a breaker bar, and also have a fork leg for extra leverage as required.

Although I have recently acquired a cordless Impact Wrench :)

:o

I dunno...................

:lol:

We had this debate a while back. There were many reponses to it and I stated that I had an electric impact wrench. The one that Antonye mentioned earlier sounds just like mine.

The thing is, quite a few people seemed to state that this was crap and carried on with there old iron bar and socket routine. I cant see the point!!:o I got mine from fleabay, brand new for a tenner. I think that they are available from Halfords and B and Q etc. I would never go back to that iron bar again. Its great for undoing and doing up the rear nuts on the sprocket and wheel side. No bouncing bike. No needing a mate to hold the bike. No slipped hands and scuffed knuckles or paintwork!!!!!!

The only thing I would say that I have to be carful of draining the bike battery when using it a lot but that is only cos the battery is on its way out at the moment.

Bloody good bit of kit.:smug::D

You pays yer money......................................

DC.:burn:

[Edited on 30-3-2005 by DC]

Thanks everybody for your suggestions, a 3 quarter breaker bar will do until I get the cordless or 12 volt impact wrench.

And the 17mm allen key (with shimming) is inspired for emergencies.

Now all I have to do is wait for my new wheel nut to turn up (the bike's looking great with the new wheels, and I can't ride it!)

Spinoli

I have always wondered what that bar on the paddock stand was for. How about a picture of it being used in action so I can get my full money's worth out of the stand. To date I have just left it sitting and could never think of a use for it!