About a month ago I posted a request for suggestions on what to look for on a K100/EML rig that I was considering purchasing. This was to be a trade for an R1150GS that I owned but wasn't using very much. Well I did get the rig + a bunch of cash in exchange for my GS. Overall the unit is in good condition. A bunch of cosmetic things to be sorted out, a rebuild of the oil/water pump, it seeps a very small amount of antifreeze after sitting a couple of days, and replacement sidecar wheel bearings, very, very slight play but I'd rather be safe than sorry. I've ordered and am awaiting the parts to rebuild the pump and I've purchased the wheel bearings and seals. My current problem, and therefore my plea for suggestions, involve my difficulty in removing the sidecar wheel axle. I've removed the suspension part that contains the axle mount, wheel hub and brake disk but cannot free the axle from the casting. See attached photo. The axle is frozen in the casting. I assume that once the castle nut is loose/removed the axle should be free to slide out of the casting, but it does not. So far I've treated it over a couple of days with PB Blaster and tried mildly heating with a propane torch while applying light pressure with a puller. Of course I'm very limited to how much force I can apply with the puller because I'm pulling against the brake disk and don't want to damage it. So, before I do some serious damage I'm hoping someone can make a suggestion or two that might help resolve this problem.
Your axle is frozen in the bearings.
Do not put pressure on the disc, that is not needed.
Place some sort of large metallic support at the OUTER casting. Support needs to have a hole to allow the axle to come out from that outer position, yet places its large contact area on the aluminum hub casting. Place the entire assembly up-side-down, so the threaded end of the axle is UPWARDS.
Heat the whole assembly. How you do that is up to you. I'd suggest that you simply rest the entire thing on a hot plate, and take the temperature to water-sizzle.
The bearing pack should release from its hub; if not, use a BRASS hammer and push the axle through...or place the assembly on a hydraulic press and do it that way.
Snowbum
Here is a link to a web page showing the items disassembled, etc...lots of photos:
http://bmwmotorcycletech.info/EMLsidecar8.htm
http:
snowbum,
Thanks for your response to my inquiry. My current problem is to get the axle to release from the black metal suspension casting. Although I may have the same problem when I finally get the axle/hub assembly free from the casting that is not currently the problem area. I believe the axle is frozen in the suspension casting in the area indicated by the arrow in the attached photo. Although I'm guessing that the fix may be heat as you have suggested when attempting to remove the actual wheel bearings. My concern is that I believe the pivot bearings, which are at the other end of that same casting and I believe to be in good shape, will be damaged by the application of heat when attempting to solve the current problem. I'm also concerned about how much heat I can apply to the black metal suspension casting without damaging it. I guess my only recourse is to support the aluminum wheel hub as you have indicated and heat the whole mess, casting and wheel hub, and attempt to force the axle out and down through both the suspension casting and the wheel hub at the same time. I suppose the other approach would be to find a machine shop with a press and have them try to press the axle out. I guess I'm just fearful about turning this part over to some gorilla in a machine shop who has no vested interest in the result other than making a couple of bucks. Decisions, decisions!
I failed to mention that if the axle has secondary seizing at the back, that you can heat the assembly to maybe 150-180° F. or even more, and then try to clamp the rear assembly in soft jaws, and put a large crescent wrench at the flats at the outer part, and see if you can rotate it. Since the threads at the back are normal direction, try rotating CCW. You can put quite a bit of pressure on it.
Would appreciate you letting us/me know what you find.
thx
Bob (snowbum)
Bob,
Once again thanks for your suggestions. Per your request, here's the final result. After two days of heating and soaking with rust inhibitor in an attempt to break the axle free from the rust that held it captive I finally decided it was mission impossible. So I took the assembly down to a local auto repair facility where they have a manly sized hydraulic press. Well, 5 minutes and $5 later the axle was liberated. As the tech pumped the pressure up on the press there was a short period where nothing happened and then all of a sudden it sounded like I had just fired a round out of my 30-06 and forgot to insert my ear plugs! After seeing and hearing it break free it was obvious that I would never have had success at home with my hand tools. Now I must try to clean up the surface of the axle and set about removing and replacing the bearings. I appreciate the help and I'm also sure that I'll be back with more questions before this project is complete.
Lynn Keen
I'm glad that I could offer some help, minimal as it was.
For others reading this, the EML chairs used to be relatively infamous for having wheel bearing problems. I think, for the most part, it is simply that the owners fail to clean and lubricate them at reasonable intervals.......and maybe, from what I have seen......the seals, particularly that poorly fitted-to-the-suspension inner seal, are often not intact.
My personal inspection is 12,000 miles or 3 years, whichever comes first. I use a high-quality lithium-soap type of grease. Chevron Ultra Duty NLG1 or NLG2, which is a red colored grease, would be a decent choice. Do not use a moly-containing grease. Quaker State makes a decent disc brake rated grease, it is also OK, but I prefer the Chevron, as I think it does not dry out and has better moisture resistance properties.
If you think the axle is fun when it seizes.......I have done three EML pivots, and each was a BEAR to change the bearing. A hydraulic press was a must. Luckily, that one will last MANY years without additional servicing.
It is too bad that EML got absorbed into another company, and even before then it was very difficult to deal with for parts, including a pretty worthless representative in Florida. I gave up on EML, both with Marvin of Florida and his worthless assurances, and gave up on dealing with EML directly. .... and did my own work on shocks, and other things. I have even managed to obtain a new (spare) front lamp housing and lens; and hopefully will obtain a spare for the rear this year.
Hey, I told ya'll I'd be back and here I am. And, the plot thickens! OK, in the last chapter I had the axle pressed out with a hydraulic press because it was rusted so much that I could not break it loose. While working on that part of the project I had pre-ordered the wheel bearings and the inner and outer seals using the information in snowbum's technical publication so I would have them on hand. Well today I finally got a chance to get back to work on the wheel hub. I was able to remove the two bearings from the hub without drama. With that done, here's what I found;
1. There was no inner seal. Just a dirty, empty space where the seal should have been. I'm sure this contributed to the extensive rust issue.
2. There was some type of, what I believe to be leather, shim between the axle and the cylindrical spacer that resides between the two wheel bearings. The ID of that spacer is roughly 1/16" larger that the OD of the axle. The leather is pretty well deteriorated having been in there for the last 25 +/- years and I'm really not interested in trying to replace it. I'll probably leave the spacer out when I re-assemble because it will just rattle around in there and not really serve any purpose.
3.And last but not least, the bearings and seals are not the same size as what Bob apparently has on his rig and has listed in the tech article at http://bmwmotorcycletech.info/EMLsidecar8.htm .
The article lists the seals as; inner 32 x 52 x 7 mm, and outer 30 x 52 x 7 mm -
My outer seal is 30 X 47 X 7 and as stated earlier there was no inner.
I'm curious as to why the referenced inner and outer have two different IDs. My axle appears to be a constant diameter throughout?
The bearings referenced in the article were 6205-2RSJEM. and mine are 6005 RSR
So, it's off to NAPA to reorder bearings and seals. That's my fault though for not verifying part numbers before purchasing new ones. Apparently my hack is of a different vintage than what Bob has been working with.
Lynn Keen
