Trike Hub Removal?

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I picked up an old rusty trike and I cant remove the old real wheels from the shaft. Removed retaining bolts but wheels seem to be rusted on tight to the shaft. sprayed with lots of WD40 but they still wont budge! Any ideas? Going to try PB Blaster tonight and maybe a pulley puller.... Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Here are some pics of the trike so you can have an idea of how old it is.







 
The pulley puller will just pull the flanges off the hub. Keep soaking. Try a torch too.

But, you don't have to remove the bent wheel to rebuild it. And a rebuild is in order. You probably won't find a suitable replacement wheel with such a wide hub and to fit that diameter of axle and with a key way slot. Looks like you have the room to respoke it in place. Repaint while the rim & spokes are off. I think you will find many of the spokes are rusted into the nipples so you will wind up cutting a bunch off and installing new spokes.

The other challenge is getting the seat post out.

How about a photo of the underside of the rear end. I'm guessing it has a differential of some sort or is it 1 wheel drive? It looks like it might have a 1 piece solid axle which means 1 wheel would need to spin freely so you can turn corners. I don't see any inboard supports that it would need for a 2 piece axle. Any driven wheel will have a key way slot and key to keep the wheel from spinning on the axle. The end bolts just keep the wheels from falling off, not turn prevention. Those keys can get pretty rusty too. You won't be able to twist the hub off those.

It looks like standard 36 spoke wheels so replacement rims are quite available. Are those 26 or 24" wheels & tires? We have piles of both at our local bike coop (cedar rapids, ia).

As to the age? meh, 1970s. What is the brand? Its nothing I recognize. Not a Schwinn or Worksman. Defintely USA construction, perhaps a Murray, Huffy, Columbia, etc.

Looks nicely triangulated so it should ride pretty stable when done.

rick
 
Agreed. These hubs are most certainly keyed to the stub-axles, probably though the use of a square drive. That's how Worksman trikes do it. I suggest turning the bike on its side, slathering on the PB Blaster, and allowing gravity to do its thing...first on one side, then the other. Be patient. The last thing you want is to damage the hubs by rushing. If all else fails, I'd try wedging a "pickle fork" inboard, between the hub and the bearing holder, and gently push the hub off rather than pull it.
 
THanks for the advice guys! that's exactly what im afraid will happen if I use a puller. both rims are slotted keyed and if im not mistaken its a postreaction system with a differential. ill get some pics tonight when I get home. I was trying to save these hubs to respoke to some cool 26" rims ive saved. going to try to build something cool just cant get these darn hubs off to start! LOL! some one told me to try PB blaster.... any experience with this stuff?
 
pb blaster? yeah, it stinks. Only use it outdoors and down wind. I've had very little success with it. I've used a small squeeze can of Liquid Wrench forever.

WD-40 is okay, best as a cleaner, okay as a deruster, a lousy lube.

But as I said, you don't have to get the hubs off to respoke. It looks like you have plenty of clearance around the hubs to feed the spokes thru (unlike a Worksman Mover). Consider those hubs to be irreplaceable for that trike. They are unique to that model. Don't ruin them. I have seen similar situations where new hubs had to be custom manufactured which isn't that hard to do for this type.
 
One more suggestion. Rebuild the bike, leave the axle bolts off and ride it. The extra wiggle motion may work the rust bonds free.

I can understand wanting to completely disassemble for cleaning, painting, lube, etc.

rick
 
Thanks for the info Rick. I might have to respoke while hubs are still on the axels. the hub flanges are tweeked a little need to straighten them out too before respoking. somebody beat the hec out of those hubs already I guess trying to remove them too. ill give liquid wrench a go today.
 
Hey, I had one of those differential units on a vintage JC Penny's riding lawnmower. The mower had an 8 hp briggs so the differential can take any abuse a human could put into the pedals. The mower came with my house that I bought in 1987 and the mower was old and worn out then. But I was able to get parts for it in 1988 or so. Seems silly but I can remember picking up wheels and steering nuckles at a store that is mostly clothes and household stuff. I'm still guessing 1970s on your trike.

And you have a Shimano 3 speed intermediate hub. I didn't see that in the earlier photos. That can be made to work. New cable and shifter. Probably needs lube. Use a lightweight oil inside. No oiler port? Remove the shifter bell housing from the end of the axle, push rod and shoot some oil down the hollow axle. Helps to turn the bike on its side and spin the wheel at the same time. I have four trikes and three of them are single speed. Three gears really help with the riding so it's worth fixing the hub. Because the trike has that metal cover, the hub should be in good condition. FYI Shimano 3 speed hubs are incompatible with Sturmey Archer triggers and visa versa.

A degreaser will clean up the outsides of those units. They probably won't need tearing into.

The bent up hub flanges can be bent back in to shape when you remove the spokes. The metal is a mild steel and pretty easy to bend. A little wobble in the flanges won't affect the true of the wheel when you respoke them. Once you get the spokes off, you can clean the hub shells for painting. Or not, depending on your preference. They look to have been zinc plated or chrome plated otherwise they would be solid rust by now. The axle is not plated, thats why the hubs are stuck on. If you do ever get the hubs off, use emory paper to smooth out the axle rust and use lots of heavy bearing grease, like auto wheel bearing grease, where the hub slides on the axle to prevent future rusting up. Clean out the inside of the hub too. The grease will prevent water and dirt from getting in the space. Its the tight fit and dirt that hold water in there that causes the rust.

I can see the clevis pins just inside the inner flange. Those are to keep the wheels from turning on the axle. A rather unique way of doing that. IMO, a dumb idea to put such large holes in the axle right at the major stress point. I wonder if that was original. You can cut the pins off short and use a drift punch to drive them out. Or try to drill them out. Split clevis pins are easy to get at hardware stores.

As mentioned a ball Joint removal tool might work for pushing the hub off from the inside end. It will be pushing on the bearing unit on the frame. The tool could damage the bearing. Those bearings are quite easy to get and easy to replace once the hub & pin are out. Those bearings are commonly used in washing machines and wheel barrow wheels. Cheap.

What the tool looks like:
06SnowSpecToolsE_img_93.jpg
 
Man I think your are dead on! I drenched last night with liquid wrench. going to go get a ball joint fork and see if that does the trick. thinking of doing some really knarlly custom work on this one. Just built a nice 27" Belgium wheel with brass inlays and DT swiss spokes. going to get a nice springer bet front fork for it. planning on rebuilding the rear wheels with some nice chrome 26" rims I've been saving for a rainy day. going to look for a nice tractor saddle to use on this one.

Thanks for the advice Rick,
Gabe
 
I have 2 old Open Road trikes, they have a similar way of attaching the wheels.

The problem is that the aluminum hubs are electrolized(sp?) to the steel axle, and just like my first try on the first trike, after all is said and done you will have to cut them off if you want them off that bad, which brings the problem of finding/buying new ones.

I ruined a good trike by cutting the hubs off it after weeks of trying everything and bending the crap outta the hubs anyways.
The 2nd trike I was able to find, I am having the hubs laced with new hoops, but the bike shop seems to think that because they dont come off the bike it should cost 2-3x as much, even tho all they need to do is flip the trike upside down and everything is open and accessible with a built-in stand.

So Im going to attempt to lace my new hoops myself, for the first time ever, and if I cant get them true enough, the bike shop can make those adjustments after all the other "labor" is done.

BTW, when I say I tried everything, I really mean it, I soaked in every lube/loosener/solvent i could find, tried diesel, tried heat, tried cold, tried pounding, tried pulling, tried twisting, etc, etc, etc.....

Aluminum and steel and rain and years do not make a good combination....

PS- does anybody know where to buy these solid-type hubs or built wheels??
Id like to get my other trike running again, and also my 28-spoke pattern is ONLY available in a 24" wheel, Id like 26" on them both but that means 36-spoke at minimum...
 
SactoCruiser said:
PS- does anybody know where to buy these solid-type hubs or built wheels??
Id like to get my other trike running again, and also my 28-spoke pattern is ONLY available in a 24" wheel, Id like 26" on them both but that means 36-spoke at minimum...

I bought several sets of cart wheels from Northern Tool for making bicycle trailers. (kind you pull behind a bicycle). They have scores of wheels for solid axles in various wheel sizes, spoked/plastic, axle diameters, all with bearings. But they are for carts. You will need to figure out how to lock them in place for the drive wheel on a trike.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ ... s?seeAll=1
 
Hi. I have a huffy trike with the same differential but a different brg set-up on the axles. Both hubs/axles stuck on solid. I disassembled the diff, on the inside is a set of spyder gears and a couple of "e" clips that retain the axles to the spyder drive gears. Remove the "e" clips, the axles should slide out of the diff hsg. Remove brgs and retainers from axles, this should leave you with wheels /hubs /axle assy. Get a piece of 3/4'' pipe about 4" longer than the axles, slide pipe over axles, stand on end, get a punch that
that fits inside hub about a 3lb hammer and give it a try. mine finally came loose after leaving the axles standing-hub side up and soaking in pb blaster and kroil oil for several weeks. It worked for me- did not damage the hubs or axles. Hope this helps.

Regards, Craig

'





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Hi. I have a huffy trike with the same differential but a different brg set-up on the axles. Both hubs/axles stuck on solid. I disassembled the diff, on the inside is a set of spyder gears and a couple of "e" clips that retain the axles to the spyder drive gears. Remove the "e" clips, the axles should slide out of the diff hsg. Remove brgs and retainers from axles, this should leave you with wheels /hubs /axle assy. Get a piece of 3/4'' pipe about 4" longer than the axles, slide pipe over axles, stand on end, get a punch that
that fits inside hub about a 3lb hammer and give it a try. mine finally came loose after leaving the axles standing-hub side up and soaking in pb blaster and kroil oil for several weeks. It worked for me- did not damage the hubs or axles. Hope this helps.

Regards, Craig

'





'
I have my Diff apart but the axle doesn't want to slide out, as if it is pined in. Any ideas about this?
 
I am guessing that you looked for some kind of retainer bolts,roll pins, etc. The axles/ hubs I had used " J " bolts thru them to keep hubs on axles. They snapped off during disassembley, so drilled them out and went from there. The axles seemed to be soooo rusted to the hubs it felt like it was one piece, but eventually, they came out. Important thing is to get they to move, all without destroying the hubs. Good luck. Regards, Craig.
 
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I'm going to try this mix to get it to break free.

ATF-Acetone mix...............53 pounds

The ATF-Acetone mix was a "home brew" mix of 50 - 50 automatic transmission fluid and acetone. Note the "home brew" was better than any commercial product in this one particular test.

Found here
Best Penetrating Oil Test, surprise winner http://m.ford-trucks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=897615&styleid=20
 
I have no practical experience with that mixture but there are many who swear by it--call it their "secret sauce." Since you can whip-up half a gallon of the stuff for about $10, it's at least economical. Still takes time, though. Curious to hear your results.
 
I know this is an old thread, but...

Attention: ctaccruiser

Do you still have that Huffy trike? Is it a Ultra Glide with a 3-speed Shimano 3CC hub? Were you ever able to locate replacement parts for the rear axle assembly?

Mine is ~1983 year model. I bought it used from a bike "recycler" and paid way too much for it. If I'd known that I would not be able to get replacement parts I would have bought a new one from Walmart.

The parts I need are:

1 axle
2 plastic seals (They go on each side of the differential case in the axle guides. I assume to act as seals to keep whatever lube is supposed to be used in them inside.)

I also need to know what kind of lube is used in the differential. Mine was dry as a bone when I opened it up. If you can answer any of the above questions I am appreciative. Also, in the "chain stabilizing plate" (as Huffy called it, I call it the axle alignment guide), is there supposed to be some kind of grommet? Mine doesn't have one, but the trike in the images in this thread seems to have some kind of grommet in that plate. Mine has what appears to be the "shadow" of one, but I can't be sure. Also, the plate is worn in the hole. The axle was rubbing against it and it wore both the axle and the edge of the hole in the plate. Then, due to an "almost accident", the axle broke at the worn area. I am currently trying to get the axles out of the wheel hubs so I can try to get the broken axle welded back together. I am using B'laster PB, but until I found this thread I had no idea that I would have to let the hubs soak for weeks.

Regards,
Wayne
 

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