quick release axle stuck

[ancientgimp]

I use a Top End Crossfire T6 chair. Had a flat tire a day ago and could not get the wheel off. Took it to the bike shop and they failed to get the wheel off but changed the tube with wheel still on. Brought chair home and called Top End where a rep was quite helpful. He suggested loosening large nut against camber bar saying this might loosen the axle a little - no luck. I have the chair laying on it's side in garage. I depressed axle button and squeezed in a large amount of penetrating oil hoping it would run down the axle, I also oiled right by the camber bar. No luck so far. I also used the butt of a screwdriver to rap forcefully depressing quick release button repeatedly, also tried gently prying between wheel hub and camber bar while depressing quick release button. Any Ideas??

I use a van so I don't take wheels off much. I don't think I had them off all winter. I shovel snow and salt driveway. The other wheel comes off easily and is well lubricated. I can use chair like this but would not be able to disassemble if I needed to get in a car. I am going to upgrade my backup T6 to post position if this problem can't be solved.

Any ideas appreciated

[Gordy1]

I had that happen on an old chair that I bought for parts. It was a folder, so it was easy to work out that the little ball bearings were seized in place (ie they stuck out, even when the axle button was depressed). Again, because it was a folder I could reach the ball bearings and lubricate them and push them in to fix the problem.

In your case, how about putting the chair on it?s side (stuck wheel on the ground), removing the other wheel, then spraying lubricant down the axle/camber bar towards the stuck wheel? That?s the only way I can think of getting the lubricant to where it needs to be.

[Jimmay]

If you can get the other wheel off, maybe try taking the entire axle tube off, remove the spacer/camber plug nut and pour some lubricant down the axel onto the portion you are more than likely seized up at (the little bearings on the axle pin- one is likely rusted into the pin and not releasing the axel). You can also try using a long rod to slide into the axle tube from the other side and (gently) tap on the inside portion of the quick release pin to help rattle the thing free.

Salt, sand and general winter conditions are a real nightmare for our wheelchairs, I have had a similar issue with the bearing seizing up on the caster fork assembly where it would still turn but was next to impossible to pull the bearing off the shaft, I had to carefully cut it off with a grinder.

Good luck.

[pattherat]

Remove the axle receiver from the camber tube completely so you can get at the ball bearing. Penetrating oil and squeeze the ball in with pliers to free it up.
https://www.carecure.net/forum/showt...be!-grrr/page2

[ancientgimp]

Thanks for the suggestions. I did turn chair over so that stuck wheel is on garage floor. Removed other wheel and squeezed the remaining 1/3 of a can of penetrating oil down the camber tube hoping that it will coat the axle tip and free the bearings. Also followed this up with liberal spraying of WD-40 down the camber tube. I now have a small pool of oil on the garage floor seeming to indicate the oil must have reached the bearings on the axle.

After reading Pat's suggestion I noted that the threaded axle housing is flat on 2 sides so I should be able to back out this threaded housing if I can reach it with the wheel still on. I assume then I will be able to examine the stuck bearings and work on them. I will wait to do this until I see if the penetrating oil and WD-40 have worked to free the bearings.

[Mike_Stan]

I have had this happen. The axle gets dirt and damp and won't come out. Took me forever to beat it out with a hammer and screw driver using oil to lubricate the axle but it finally came out. I always make sure to grease the axles twice a year now so they so don't seize up like this. Best bet is to use the penetrating oil and hope it loosens it up some.

[August West]

A lubricant helps to keep moving parts moving freely. It doesn't loosen parts stuck in place due to corrosion. What you need is an anti-corrosive spray to loosen the corrosion. You can also try a combination of heat and and cold to expand and contract that parts in addition to the anti-corrosive spray. It's easy enough to apply a heat pack to the camber bar to get it to expand. Applying cold to the axle to get it to contract is going to be tricky. Seeing that you live in Michigan, maybe leave the chair out in the cold overnight, then in the morning apply heat to the camber bar. That way, the axle will be cold while the camber bar will be hot.

[ancientgimp]

Remove the axle receiver from the camber tube completely so you can get at the ball bearing. Penetrating oil and squeeze the ball in with pliers to free it up.
https://www.carecure.net/forum/showt...be!-grrr/page2

I was unsuccessful with flooding the camber bar from the other side with penetrating oil and WD-40. Still locked up tight.

Pat, I think your idea involved 1st loosening the big axle nut then backing out the threaded axle tube from camber bar so that the housing was completely removed and the bearings at the end of the axle revealed. I saw that toward the end of the threaded axle tube 2 sides were flattened. I tried with vice grips to loosen the threaded axle tube but it didn't budge. I think I will either bring it to the bike shop again and describe what I want or work with a DME I know who has great mechanical skills and travels to work with customers every Wednesday. Am I accurately describing what you suggested?

August, will keep your idea on back burner in case this fails.

[baldfatdad]

Will the axle turn? Not just the adjusting nut. Can you get the adjusting nut off (have to be small button axle) then you could slide the wheel off the pin. If not loosen the axle nut as much as possible and knock the axle in (use a rubber hammer). Pull it back and forth. Might lossen things. I'd take it to a car mechanic, if you need to take out the insert. He should have a big wrench to turn the insert.

[pfcs49]

worst case, you might remove the nut (after unscrewing the release button if it covers the nut) and push the damn thing into the camber tube and just get another axle!
I know those nuts are thin elastic stop-nuts. You will probably need try to camber the wheel, (Like, try pulling the tires together) which will cause the axle to drag in the big axle nut so you can unscrew it; otherwise it will spin freely. If that fails, an impact gun, in spurts, while cambering the wheel should get it off.

[sowseng]

I am living in tropical country, whenever I came out from air-conditioned room to open space, my wheelchair will get wet, includes the axle. The axle stuck once due to the moisture. To avoid this happen again, I spray a little bit of WD40 on the axle once awhile.

I think you can use hair dryer or heat gun to blow the camber tube for a while, to dry up plug.

[ancientgimp]

The wheels are Spinergy Spox and quick release is gently domed, I have used the butt of a screwdriver to repeatedly, forcefully depress the button after feeding in 1/3 of a can of penetrating oil from the other end of the camber tube. I also loosened the large axle nut from the camber bar and attempted to loosen and back off the threaded axle housing - could not budge axle housing. Whenever I remove a wheel I spray with WD-40. The other axle appears to be well lubricated.

[brian]

WD-40 is not a lubricant. It's a water displacer and an okay penetrating oil.
A good penetrating oil is something like Kano-Kroil or WD-40 sells special penetrating formulations.

I actually stopped using any kind of lubricant on my axles and just keep them clean and dry with a steel wool rubdown every once in a while. I found that lubricants leave a residue over time that creates fit issues.

You'll really need to disassemble the axle until it looks like the photo below. Then I suggest doing two things:
- If you push the QR button, do the bearings move? If not, see if you can push in the ball bearings with a screwdriver while you're pushing the QR button. If you can't move the bearings, add a good penetrating oil into the axle itself (A)
- If you can push the ball bearings and the axle won't move, add penetrating oil to the area where the axle meets the sleeve (B)

Let the oil sit overnight. Try to move it in the morning. Add more oil and let it sit all day. Try again.
Also, sometimes, hitting things repeatedly with a hammer will help.

If you have a big-button QR, it's also possible that something has happened to the stop nut beneath it and you aren't able to push the QR button in far enough to release the bearings. That's a bigger issue.

[ancientgimp]

Thanks Brian, the pic was very helpful. I did use 1/3 of a can of actual penetrating oil dumping it down the open end of the camber tube hoping to hit the end of the stuck axle. The oil certainly hit a lot of stuff as I had a puddle on the garage floor after a while and I could feel the penetrating oil all over the threaded axle housing and on the qr button. In the Crossfire manual they direct the user to loosen the large axle nut next to the camber bar to increase/ decrease distance from wheel to frame. There is a slim washer between the axle nut and camber bar. There also appeared to be a very slim nut after the washer but I was unable to get a wrench to move this and the manual does not identify this as anything necessary to deal within order to back off the threaded axle housing. I think I will either have the bike shop or DME try loosening the axle housing. Top End wants the axle to examine it once it's out and will provide a new axle for free.

Both quick release buttons feel like they are depressing the same depth with similar pressure.

[djrolling]

I really cannot add to what has already been said. It is times like these that I am glad my chair does not have an axle tube and has an axle plate and sleeve. If something like this happens you have pretty easy access to the axle, sleeve and ball barrings on the end. My newest chair does have an axle tube but I really do not use it much. The chair I use most is a GPV.

I hope you are able to get it unstuck soon. I hate having issues with my chair....