Born Again Eccentric wrote:Svlwof - sounds like you are having something of a saga.

Most tyres have a direction of rotation on them - even if they can be used for front or rear. If you have ABS brakes, getting the wheel back on the right way round is easy - the toothed ABS sensor wheel is on the right hand side (just need to make sure the tyre is mounted correctly for the correct rotation) Svlwolf here, nowhere on these tires is an arrow like the original tires, they are knobby tires, i am absless, just good ole disc




With the wheel correctly installed, you will have a 3-4mm gap between the brake discs and the forks on both sides. Are you sure that you have put the spacers back correctly? Wolf here, yes I put the spacers on the right sides, BUT a possiblilty

The axle is removed by slackening the two clamp bolts on the forks (two on each fork) and removing the allen screw from the left hand end of the axle spindle (I assume that you slackened these off). The axle should then slide out smoothly to the right hand side (if it wasn't lightly greased when installed, it can be quite stiff to move) using a tommy bar or some such passed through the hole at the right hand end of the axle spindle to allow the axle to be pulled out with a twistlng motion. Svlwolf here, yes no problems originally when i removed it to replace the tires

With the axle removed, two spacers will drop free - the larger of the two must be re-installed on the left side of the wheel and the smaller on the right. The wheel bearings are a press fit in the wheel hub and should not come out at all. Svlwolf here, yes large on left and small on right , yes i know they should be press fit


  
Right hand side (thin spacer)                                                     Left hand side (fat spacer)

The difficulty you are having getting the axle spindle out or in again suggests that you may have bent the spindle or maybe that your forks are not correctly aligned. It should not be that tight a fit. Svlwolf here, yes i did notice that the fork on the right side was sitting a little lower than the left side, so possible fork alignment the first time

Have you tried putting the axle spindle thought the wheel hub with it off the bike? (i.e. not going through the forks). This would give an idea if the spindle is bent or not. If it slides though easily, then I would look at your fork alignment. If it doesn't, then that suggests damage to the spindle. Svlwolf here, doesnt slide through either bearing at all, alll the other spacers etc go on just fine

Ordinarily, getting the wheel back on is pretty easy. Get wheel between forks and brake callipers positioned on the brake discs. The axle spindle slides in from the right hand side, through the right fork, through the thin spacer, through the wheel hub, through the fat spacer and through the left hand fork and is then secured with the allen screw (to the correct torque). Pump the forks a few time to align the forks and then tighten the clamp bolts to the correct torque. It is usually to have to lift the wheel slightly to get the spindle through the fat spacer and left fork.

Good luck!

Born Again Eccentric wrote:Sorry - not trying to tell you the obvious, just trying to work out what's gone wrong.

Wolf here, No worry at all about the obvious, just trying to work thru it myself

The tyre rotation thing is a bit of a red herring (does that translate globally?) - there is no way that simply fitting the right sizes tyres could affect the axle spindle - even if they were put on with the rotation in the wrong direction (that just affects road handling performance). If you have gone for knobbly tyres - then it is quite likely that it really doesn't matter which way they go on as the tread is pretty uniform. Wolf here, my thoughts exactly!

Bit concerned by your statements:

"Svlwolf here, yes no problems originally when i removed it to replace the tires"
and
"I just put the front tire on and had to DRIVE the axle in, SOOOO this morning I starting DRIVING the axle out with a socket

This sounds like you have had some misalignment, but have forced the spindle in, causing it to bind with the wheel bearing - probably damaging both the bearings and the spindle. Bugger! You may need new bearings (not expensive, but not a simple job to fit (BMW talks of heating up the wheel to get the new bearings in - tyre off job!!)) and maybe a new spindle too. Svlwolf here, I just put the spindle on a straight edge at different locations all the way around the spindle, no signs at all of being warped or bent, however my thinking is about the bearings and am about to go get 2 to see if i may fix the problem!!

Trust me your input is very much appreciated 

Kaptain Holister wrote:Aaahhh yes! the safe palce.   You scour the garage looking for that 10mm socket you just put down where you new you'd be able to get to it quickly while you're swapping out tools..... nope. Not there. You go upstairs thinking you left it on the kitchen bench when you made a cuppa. nope... not there. You check to see if its beer'o'clock yet but decide to make another cuppa . You check your pockets again just in case you're going crazy. Nope. Back down stairs to have another look then scrounge thru a box of old sockets to find one that could fit. Back to the job and there it is sitting on the front of the bench where you left it. A few swear words at myself... .... now, what was I doing?