Axle problem is solved. By steve (Read 2,127 times)

[steve]

It's been a while since I visited his page. I found a nice lift at Harbor Freight on sale for $79 bucks so with luck, that will do the trick. The next issue is that the sorry S*B broke the front wheel hub and deformed the bearing! Ice Bear got me for almost $100 bucks for the key switch set. Not Jim's deal. Ice Bear sticks it to ya on parts. Anyway, I need to find a complete front wheel assy with the rotor mounted and the bearings already pressed in. I shot an email off to Jim for a quote, but I don't want to have my bank account molested by Ice Bear. Anyone have any ideas ? This is a 2012 Viking PST-8.

[alleyoop]

You should of googled for the key switch, don't forget the trikes are made out of existing 2 wheel scoots and you could of matched up your key switch and gotten it for much cheaper. Yes Ice Bear is high on parts and just about everything EXCEPT the Axle parts you cannot find anywhere. But even on the Axle you can get Bearings, break pads, rims etc..from other places at a much cheaper price, it is just the AXLE frame and DIFFERENTIAL that you have to get from ICE BEAR.
Alleyoop

[steve]

You're correct on the search. I will say that part of the cost is that they don't send just the keyswitch. They send all the locks for the bike as a package which seems reasonable, except I have only the ignition switch left on mine.

[steve]

Quick update. The front hub has big chip out of it where they dropped something on her in the trailer. I don't want to order and hope a wheel will fit so I'm trying to get Rapid Jim to hunt one down for me. Nothing in the US so he is checking on the factory in China. Anybody have one or a good source for one (2013, PST-8 Viking) please let me know.

Since she was stolen by a gang of thugs out of El Paso and rescued on her way to the border, I'm calling it an alien abduction and have changed her name to "Close Encounters."

[steve]

Well, the chips in the front wheel are factory design, but I can't imagine what they are for. After much difficulty the new axle is installed so most of the damage is repaired and she rides great. Biggest problem was that the new axle had through holes on the outer mounts where the old axle had tapped holes. A quick trip to Home Depot solved that problem. New keyswitch is mounted also.

[alleyoop]

Feb 18, 2014 0:07:27 GMT -6 steve said:

Well, the chips in the front wheel are factory design, but I can't imagine what they are for. After much difficulty the new axle is installed so most of the damage is repaired and she rides great. Biggest problem was that the new axle had through holes on the outer mounts where the old axle had tapped holes. A quick trip to Home Depot solved that problem. New keyswitch is mounted also.

HOLES ON THE OUTER MOUNTS? what? pic please if you can does not make any sense.
Alleyoop

[steve]

Alley, I'll try to get pics today, but these are poorly finished notches 180 degrees apart on the horizontal axis at the end of the hub on the non rotor side of the wheel. You can actually see the bearing seal. They are about 1 inch long by maybe 1/2 inch deep and very poorly finished. I did think it was damage caused by the abduction, but I posed that question in another thread and one of our members said he has those notches too. Might be a factory defect caused when they pressed the bearings, but it seems wrong to me also. This is a 2012. I do know that no matter what it is, there seems to be very little concern from the factory and finding a new wheel is not going to be something that happens very quickly, if at all. I'll check my other post and see who has the same issue.

I did a quick search and found it under Alien Abduction. Tomcat has those notches on his 2012 with the 12" inch front wheel.

[steve]

The notches look like this 180 degrees apart.

[tomcat]

I think there is a bit of confusion here Steve because you are jumping from mounting holes in the rear axle to notches in the front hub.
Maybe you should treat each one as a separate topic?
As you noted, I have the same front axle notches that you do. Their purpose? Have no idea but a wild guess is it has something to do with ease/speed of assembly. In any case, I'm not at all concerned about them.

[alleyoop]

Yes, pic of the holes in the rear axle. Those notches could be for automated arms to grab or something.
Alleyoop

[steve]

You're correct about 2 different subjects. The rear axle on my Viking has 4 brackets. The outer brackets on the new axle had the threaded holes bored into through holes. I bought nuts and bolts to solve that problem. The other issue was the notches ont the front wheel. Sorry for the confusion. Sometimes my toaster doesn't brown the bread on both sides.

[alleyoop]

Ah, now I understand about the AXLE, mine has all 4 brackets threaded and the bolts thread in. Apparently they put that axle together on a FRIDAY and welded the wrong brackets on the two outer ends(HAHA). You know FRIDAYS THE EAGLE FLIES.
Alleyoop

[steve]

I think maybe they skipped the part where the nut is welded to the bracket. A few 1.5 by 1/2 bolts worked great and made it a little easier to install also I've ordered a better looking Speedo, but with very little info so I will post more on it when it arrives. I hated the large black box that came with it.

[tomcat]

Sorry for the confusion. Sometimes my toaster doesn't brown the bread on both sides.

I can relate to that!
Really glad you are getting the Viking back to tip-top shape after it having been kidnapped.
Can't wait for the weather here to give us a break so I can do some upgrades to mine (larger rear tires & manual choke for starters).

[steve]

Mine wants a paint job, but I think I'll just ride her for a while first. I've had her almost a year and have less than 500 miles on her. Between the mods and the abduction/repairs she's been down most of that time. I have put a very few miles on her since the axle swap and she is a much better machine now. I have the new Dong Fang hardtail springer that will see most of my play riding, but the trike is still my go to for toting stuff. The bobber has no way to carry anything other than a small tank bag.