Seized front wheel spindle

[harboged]

Hi everyone!

For the first time I'm about to remove the front wheel of my bike. I've loosen the four screws on the fork legs that lock the spindle but when I try to loosen the spindle the bush just spins with it. It's impossible to get a good grip of the bush and even when I insert a hexagon thing with a lot of force inside the bush the spindle won't come off when I try to unscrew it!

So...is it supposed to come off easily?

Any ideas what to do?

According to the manual it seems like the spindle and bush has been mounted in the opposite direction. Is that possible? Does it make any difference when it comes to its ability to get loose?

Cheers,
Per

[Miz]

Only loosen the bolts on one fork leg, then undo the spindle, then loosen the bolts to release the bush.

[Bfef]

Agreed, I had to loosen the two bolts on the left hand fork (as you sit on the bike) but leave the right hand ones tight.

Then put a big adjustable spanner on the axle head and hit it "gently" but hard with a rubber mallet. After a couple of hits it loosened enough to turn it by hand.

I tried holding the right hand end with pipe grips etc but nothing worked until I did the above.

It seems to work best if you loosen the right hand bolts a bit but basically leave them tight, until the LH axle starts to turn.

[harboged]

Alright thanks! I did try that but since the spindle didn't turn 1 mm I thought those two screws on the bush side locked the spindle too. But I will give it another try now that I know it's supposed to work!

Cheers,
Per

[harboged]

It worked perfectly! Thanks a lot!

[dme28]

Ladies/Gents,
I know this is an old post, but thanks for the advice, much appreciated.
Had a horrible feeling I would have to cut the spindle bolt to remove.

Thanks once again,

Mark.

[snapdragon]

Ladies/Gents,
I know this is an old post, but thanks for the advice, much appreciated.
Had a horrible feeling I would have to cut the spindle bolt to remove.

Thanks once again,

Mark.

Happy it helps welcome in dme28

[Spyke]

Welcome aboard!

Interesting to note I wasn't the only one with a reversed spindle.