Stuck castle nut on front AND rear axle

Hi all,

I have found myself in a pickle. The front and rear castle nuts on both of my axles are stuck on my bike and I can not remove them for the life of me. They are visibly corroded and will not budge.

I have removed the front caliper and tensioner rod on the rear brake so nothing should be squeezing anything on either wheel, and I've soaked both nuts in WD40 and used the stock Yamaha wrench to try and remove them with no luck.

What should I do?? I'm completely lost.

Thanks all

 

Heat it up.

 

And apply candle wax when they are hot. The wax will wick into the rusty threads and help lubricate them so they can turn.

Also use a 18" (or so) breaker bar and not a wrench (unless it's box end) or rachet.
If you only have a box end wrench, use a length of pipe over it as a cheater bar.


FYI WD-40 is for dispersing water from electrics. It is not a penetrating oil.

The best penetrating oil is also the cheapest. Mix up equal amounts of automatic transmission fluid and acetone. Store in an airtight container until needed.

 

I had never heard of the candle wax trick before until I saw it demonstrated on a Project Farm video. He found lubricating fluid much more effective.

 

I've watched that channel. His testing methods are not....well....very good, to be polite.
Candle wax doesn't always work, but it's a quick and cheap go-to as a first step.

 

Vegetable oil and acetone work too.

 

I finally used a tie rod/ball joint remover [pitch fork] on mine if you can get the axle shaft to move a little to engage the tool,you should be able to rent one at the local auto parts store.

 

Did you remove the cotter pins? PB-Blaster is an excellent penetrating oil, any auto parts store

 

Use a six point socket not a twelve it is less likely to slip and damage the nut.

 

I have a unrelated question.
How do you post a thread on this site ?

 

If it is a technical question for example click on XJ bikes logo on the top left here. Then scroll down and all the headings for the site are there. If it is Technical for example click on XJ Technical Chat and on the right you will see a blue tab called Post New Thread. Click on it and that will open it up.

 

THANK YOU..............

 

eat your Wheaties and show it who's the boss

 

Another silly question..........are you attempting to spin the nuts in the correct direction? Rightie tightie, leftie loosie

 

Spinach perhaps

 

If the axle nut was tightened properly all that will do is risk damaging the forks.

Once the nut is off you might need to use your suggestion to remove the axle, though A brass drift works better IMO.

 

get something better that wd 40 it does nothing for your situation.
Kroil, PB blaster, blend of acetone and atf 50/50., penetrating oil.

you could try the candle wax thing used on car lug nuts. heat up the nut untill wax from candle suckes it threads

before you do that get a breaker bar,
the stock Yamaha wrench do you have the extension for it ? this is part of your problem

 

if by "stock Yamaha wrench" you're referring to the joke that came in the tool kit, it won't work period.

You need a SIX POINT socket and a decent breaker bar; an 18" bar usually works fine and will come in handy more often than you might realize. And a torque wrench to properly tighten the nuts afterward.

 

I hope you didn’t loosen the pinch bolt first....that’s the LAST thing to loosen. ( and the last thing to tighten )

 

Hi friends, thanks for all of the responses! I was able to get the nut off with an 18" breaker bar and a new socket! I was thrilled until I realized the axle was seized too. Took a mallet to the end and that thing is SEIZED. Any advice for how to proceed?

 

Did you slacken the pinch bolt?

 

Have you slackened the pinch bolts at the bottom on the fork legs? If not do that and you can put the nut back on the wheel spindle a few turns and get a piece of 4 X 2 timber and put that on the nut and hit the timber with a hammer.

 

Apply penetrating oil to both ends of the axle (as mentioned earlier for the nut problem). Let it creep in for a day or two to losen up the rust. You'll probably still need to use a hardwood or brass drift to hmmer the axle out.
When you do get it out clean it up good so it's smooth and shiny again, and grease (moly grease is my preference) it up before mounting the wheel.
Inspect the wheel bearings, they might not be in good shape.

 

put something heavy/solid on the other side, otherwise the forks just flex when you hit it

 

Have you loosened up the pinch bolt on the left hand side of the wheel? If you have, then go back to the hardware store and get a taper punch about 12-14 inches long, stick it in the hole in the axel to see if you can spin the axel. Saturate the axle with P-B Blaster, bump the axle back and forth, flip the castle over and screw it on back wards, leave it even with the end of the axle so you do not mushroom the end of the axle as you strike the end; better yet get a soft faced 3 pound dead blow hammer, leave the nut on the end of the axle. As you strike the end of the axle, try to spin the shaft with the taper punch, keep the axle shaft saturated with the P-B Blaster. Just keep hitting it back and forth. It may take awhile, but it should come loose

 

Excellent idea!!!!!!

 

long way around for front wheel is to remove forks so you can get to a side of the bearing and use some penetrating oil as axle may be frozen to the spacer between bearings.

 

My 1981 XJ750UK has the spacer seized on the axle shaft - so I am letting it sit with some penetating oil overnight before I start again.
Obviously it flexes my forks sidways when I hit the axle end, I suspect I am going to have to get my son to hold the fork hard to get the jarring into the spacer.

 

Cut a 'v' in a piece of fence post for him to push on.

 

Well it worked!
Having a 185cm 100KG ( 6'2", 220 pound ) kick boxer holding the wood stopped the fork moving
Spent the weekend doing short rides bedding in brakes and new tyres and looking for other quirks.
After all, its been off the road since 2012 so I am expecting something else to need fixing during the "reanimation period"
This summer is going to be fun!

 

Result.