rear wheel seized up

I've been searching all over this sight trying to find an answer to this dilemma. I really wanted to avoid posting this question because I'd rather not look like a complete moron, but i can't, for the life of me, figure out what the hell is going on with this thing. So, here it goes:

Removed rear wheel to check for rear brake delam...looks alright. Go to put rear wheel back on and i can't get the thing to mount onto the drive shaft splines. get that figured out and start to torque down the castle nut on the axle, and, as i'm getting it close to the 10.7 m-kgs that the manual specifies, i notice that the rear wheel is steadily seizing up like the rear brake is engaged.

It's not in gear...so i don't know what's happening. all i can imagine is that the cup looking part that sits around the keys on the wheel side is hanging on the inside of the drive shaft assembly.

any ideas?


i'm VERY new to working on bikes. This is my first one. most of my mechanical knowledge lies in watching my pops wrench on (and cuss at) farm equipment. any help would be great.

Thanks,

Gabriel

 

Not being an expert (I only took mine off twice), just take it off again and start over, making sure everything is lined up correctly.

 

yeah...i tried that.
everything is mounted and lined up (and the wheel spins freely), it starts to lock up once i torque the nut. when i loosen back off, everything is fine again.
i might just try put the rear wheel from that parts bike on it and see if that fixes it.

 

Do you tighten the torsion rod (between the brake housing and frame) before tightening the axle? If you don't, you won't be able to put that where it needs to be - suggesting this incase you brake housing plate is spinning when you tighten it, catching the brake arm on something and expanding the shoes. Or if you installed the brake arm but not the torsion rod, the axle could turn the housing and expand the brakes.

Also, if you notice the axle spinning when replacing the wheel close to the recommened torque, I always tighten the alxe til it spins-tighten the pinch bolt to hold the axle-torque axle to the spec-lossen the pinch bolt-torque axle again to spec-then finally torque the pinch bolt to spec.

 

ha! holy $h1t, i'm an idiot. an even bigger mistake than not attaching the torsion rod and something catching the brake arm...

thanks for your help guys.

is there anyway that i could get one of you around north texas to come over and slap me?!?

 

'by "bigger mistake" i mean "more stupid mistake."

 

wait...what was the mistake (and you can edit your posts after the fact)

 

there's supposed to be a cotter pin on the brake side of the axle (right?). i was tightening the axle into the rear brake housing, therefore locking the rear wheel up.

at least i think that's what was going on. i don't actually have the cotter pin. gotta go get one.

 

I don't have access to my bike right now, but I'm pretty sure that the cotter pin(and castle nut) go on the left, or final drive side, of the bike. One side of the rear axle is larger than the other, and fits into where the pinch bolt is. In other words, the axle slides in through the right (brake) side to the left side. The wider end acts like a spacer(and should keep you from installing it wrong)

 

yeah that's right. there's also a hole through the larger side that looks like it would also hold a pin. if that's not the case, then i still have a problem. i connected everything like you said, and, just like before, the wheel seizes up as i torque the castle nut. it gets progressively tighter as i get the nut tighter. sounds like there might be something wrong with the brake.

 

I think that holes just there to hold the axle still while you tighten it. I'd also suggest the brake. Did you lubircate the brake acuator that goes through the brake housing? Did you assemble the brake properly? If you had trouble getting the rear wheel on, the brake could also be why.

You could always throw a pick of the brakes assembled on the housing and of the axle so we could see if anything is being put together wrong.

There isn't a spacer in the rear that you might be forgetting...is there?

 

did not lubricate the actuator. thought i assembled the brake properly.

there are two washers on the rear axle assembly, right?

im in the middle of teaching lessons...i'll take some pics when i get home.

 

I believe there is also a spacer that goes inside the final drive that keeps the drive spline the correct distance from the gear and locks the bearing in place.

 

The Holes in the NON-Threaded end of the Axle are there to accommodate a Tool to HOLD the Axle from moving when Final Torque is applied.

Those Holes also come-in handy for Bolting the Axle to the end of a Sliding Hammer to help with Pulling-out untreated Axles that have seized to Bearings.

When you Pull an old Axle, ... the Axle should be "Dressed".

Wire Brush the rust off.
Wire Wheel the Axle clean.
Hold the Axle in a Vice and "Shoe-shine" a new finish on it, using Inch-wide strips of Sand Papers that will restore a finished surface on the metal.

Wipe clean with a solvent.
Dry.
Treat with a AntiSeize Compound or Waterproof Grease.

 

I had the exact same problem...
Tighten the axle nut and the rear wheel seizes... ended up being the spacer between the drum and the spline side of the rim had dropped out while I wasn't paying attention and needed to be put back in... Look for a cylindrical spacer about 100mm long lying about.

Although looking at the diagram I can't figure out now how it fell out! I'm thinking about pulling off the back wheel just to take another look.

Image from http://www.yamahaaccy.com/parts.aspx

 

Oops... it's not that at all. It's the spacer between the wheel and the diff as Desinger_Mike pointed out and I now remember looking at it and thinking what the hell is this for? before I found it's right spot and slipped it back in.

I'm glad the spacer I pointed out previously wasn't just falling out too, now that I've looked.

Image from http://www.yamahaaccy.com/parts.aspx

 

success!!!
you guys are the $hit!
if we all lived in the same town, i would buy you all beers.

i spent about twenty minutes looking around the garage for that spacer before deciding to just pull it off my parts bike...there's no way i could've dropped something that big and not noticed it...my guess is that the PO took it off and forgot to put it back on...i was wondering before i took the wheel of why the bike was so hard to move around in neutral.

Thanks A TON!