Subject: Eldo Front End Problem
Author: Dennis Jones
Date: Apr 18, 2002, 7:43 PM
Post ID: 1710094149
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I need help from some of the experienced loopframe guys. I spent the winter freshing up my '73 Eldo over the winter. Began the assembly process about 2 weeks ago. Getting the motor, transmission, drive shaft, rear drive, shocks, etc in the frame was a breeze. Then came the front wheel. I CANNOT get my front wheel on the bike correctly. I've been trying repeatedly since last Saturday with no success. Must've tried a dozen times. It is a two leading shoe front. When I try to get the axle thru left fork leg, the brake cover , the wheel itself, the dished cover on the other side, and then the right fork leg, it clearly is not in alignment and needs a good deal of force to get the axle thru. When I do get it thru, the wheel is bound up and will turn only with a great deal of force. I measured the forks and they are matching lengths when measured to a fixed point and when measured to the centerline of the axle holes. I nevertheless took the forks off the bike, checked everything, and reassembled the forks. Re-measured and they are identical. When I put the brake shoe assy and the wheel on by themselves without the dished cover, the axle will go thru nicely and the wheel will spin freely. When I put the dished cover on with the wheel and without the brake assy on, it goes together and the wheel spins freely. When I try to put everything on, the axle is clearly cocked. I can force it to assemble, but I literally need 3 guys. One to push up the right end of the axle, one to push down the left side of the axle, and one to tap in the axle in. Except for putting a new tire on the bike, I didn't do anything to the wheel. I bought and installed new soft brake shoes from Mark at MG Classics, and thought it might be them. Removed them and tried to assemble everything without the brake shoes installed and the same binding problem occurred. It does not seem to be a binding caused by things being too tight between the forks. It seems like an axle misalignment problem, yet I have taken dimensions of the forks and they are identical lengths. I have totally exhausted every idea I have, and all I am doing at this point is nicking up my new paint on my fork legs with this repeated assembly and disassembly. And, making absolutely no progress on the bike. It's got nothing to do with the spacer washers, as the wheel won't turn even with the axle nut finger tight. Sure could use some ideas, cause I'm stumped.
Thanks,
Dennis Jones
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I need help from some of the experienced loopframe
guys. I spent the winter freshing up my '73 Eldo over the winter.
Began the assembly process about 2 weeks ago. Getting the motor,
transmission, drive shaft, rear drive, shocks, etc in the frame was a
breeze. Then came the front wheel. I CANNOT get my front wheel on
the bike correctly. I've been trying repeatedly since
last Saturday with no success. Must've tried a dozen times. It
is a two leading shoe front. When I try to get the axle thru left fork
leg, the brake cover , the wheel itself, the dished cover on the other
side, and then the right fork leg, it clearly is not in alignment and needs a
good deal of force to get the axle thru. When I do get it thru, the wheel
is bound up and will turn only with a great deal of force. I measured the
forks and they are matching lengths when measured to a fixed point and when
measured to the centerline of the axle holes. I nevertheless took the
forks off the bike, checked everything, and reassembled the forks.
Re-measured and they are identical. When I put the brake shoe
assy and the wheel on by themselves without the dished cover, the axle will
go thru nicely and the wheel will spin freely. When I put the dished cover
on with the wheel and without the brake assy on, it goes together and the wheel
spins freely. When I try to put everything on, the axle is clearly
cocked. I can force it to assemble, but I literally need 3 guys. One
to push up the right end of the axle, one to push down the left side of the
axle, and one to tap in the axle in. Except for putting a new tire on the
bike, I didn't do anything to the wheel. I bought and installed new
soft brake shoes from Mark at MG Classics, and thought it might be them.
Removed them and tried to assemble everything without the brake shoes installed
and the same binding problem occurred. It does not seem to be a binding
caused by things being too tight between the forks. It seems like an axle
misalignment problem, yet I have taken dimensions of the forks and they are
identical lengths. I have totally exhausted every idea I have, and
all I am doing at this point is nicking up my new paint on my fork legs with
this repeated assembly and disassembly. And, making absolutely no progress
on the bike. It's got nothing to do with the spacer washers, as the wheel
won't turn even with the axle nut finger tight. Sure could use some
ideas, cause I'm stumped.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thanks,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Dennis Jones</FONT></DIV>
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