My trail bug wheel and the bearings from hell!!
- Thread starter lonesherpa
- Start date
In the past I have used a brass drift to punch out an old bearing. I have never worked on a fox minibike some I am not sure exactly what the bearings look like, but if they are the standard minibike style bearing then all you have to do is use a punch or a drift or a screw driver on the back side and hammer the old bearing out of the seat. Just make sure you are hammering on the bearing and not the wheel. A couple of switch blows should knock the bearing out. Make sure you clean the bearing seat after the old bearing is out so the new bearing will slid right into place.
Lone....the fox hubs have a bushing that goes from the back of one bearing to the back of the other bearing. The bushing is nothing more than a pices of steel tubing with 1/8 inch walls and a 5/8 inch hole in it. It sits between the two bearings and keeps them from pushing inward when you tighten the axle nuts. This bushing is not attached to the bearings but sometimes when the axle nuts have been tightened excessively this bushing gets squeezed between the two bearings. That is what you are feeling when you put your finger in the hole of the bearing. Take a heavy screwdriver, or 1/2 inch rod and insert it about an inch into the hole in one of the bearings and then slam the rod sharply to one side several times. That usually will knock that bushing loose and it will drop down enough so that you can get to the back side of the opposite bearing. Use your same 1/2 inch rod to gently tap that opposite bearing out. Remove the spacer and do the same with the remaining bearing.
Let me know how you make out....Ogy.
Let me know how you make out....Ogy.
If the wheel is aluminum a bit of heat can also be helpful. Pre-heat your oven to 250-275 degrees, and throw the whole wheel in for half an hour or so. The bearing should just about fall out. Be sure to first clean off as much of the old grease and solvent as you can, and take the tire off, too, so you don't stink up the house too much. I'm not familiar w/Foxes, but I've used this process a bunch of times to get bearings out of motorcycle engine cases, and it's always worked for me.
Sherpa....I am strictly a Fox Campus man but I know my way around the other Fox models....Your Trail Bug used a 5" internal expanding brake made by Bendix although at times they also used the Azusa type brake....Only Fox knows why....Picture #1 shows the two brakes side by side for comparison....The one on the left is the Bendix (ignore that short stub welded onto the center hole) and the one on the right is the Azusa....Same with picture #2....I like the Azusa brake myself because it has a cleaner look....The Azusa's are on ebay most of the time and the bendix are on ebay some of the time....Hope this helps....Ogy.
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Finally I got them out, biggest pain in the ass. i couldn't get the shaft between the bearings loose, so I took a small chisel and smashed the crap out of one bearing. i guess in all the hammering the shaft came loose, then I used a wrench handle and wacked them out.
with all this work i noticed some things
1)the rear sprocket doesn't look like a #35 (while my TAV is)
2) i have an overwelming urge to chrome the wheels and hub (would the crome flake off?/expensive?)
i put a coat of rustoleum's brite silver, and it looks kinda sad....
what do you guys think i should do?
with all this work i noticed some things
1)the rear sprocket doesn't look like a #35 (while my TAV is)
2) i have an overwelming urge to chrome the wheels and hub (would the crome flake off?/expensive?)
i put a coat of rustoleum's brite silver, and it looks kinda sad....
what do you guys think i should do?
Sherpa....Chrome does not flake off unless the finisher took a few shortcuts....get yourself a reputable chromer and tell him you want your pieces "triple chromed"....that's a layer of nickel, a layer of copper, and lastly a layer of chrome....in some places they call it show chrome....you'll never have to worry about it again....expensive?....yeah.... somewhat....but he'll give you an estimate first. Mirror finish....alluring???....YOU'RE STARTING TO SCARE ME SHERPA!!! lol....Ogy.
Sorry Sherpa....I misunderstood what you were saying....You might want to consider "powdercoating" your rear wheel in a nice silvery/chromey color. Powdercoating gives a tough finish and believe me it will stay on. Just make sure they shot or bead blast the piece before moving on to the painting. I had a couple of wheels done locally and it seems to me they charged $20.00 apiece....Good luck....Ogy.
This is based on when I wanted to get my wheels rechromed on my rupp and several people told me they only did 5 stage chrome. I have an old e-mail from awhile back of one telling what was involved with the 5 stage process. This is what it said:
"Actually the 5 plate process is much more durable, because it has 2 additional layers of nickel(that's what makes up the other 2 layers in a 5 plate process, normally it is only copper, nickel and chrome< 3 plate process). Chrome is actually a very soft metal, but it gets it's hardness for the layer(s) of nickel under it. Are you going to get the wheel(s) done are are you just checking pricing etc. And actually per wheel it will $25 additional if there is chrome on them, if it is powdercoting on them than that is included, but chrome is a beast to remove so we charge extra, thanks"
And I can see the difference in the old vintage chrome vs. what is done today as it is alot brighter in appearance. I am no chrome expert by any means, this is what I have been told.