How to Remove Rear outer Idler wheels on 2000 Vmax 600

Rockwood Yammie

Rockwood Yammie

New member
Joined
Jan 15, 2015
Messages
17
Location
Rockwood Ontario Canada
Hi Folks, it has been a while since I posted on the forum. On our last trip out this year, my wife somehow lost a rear outer idler wheel. I cannot seem to remove the rear bolts to replace the wheels. Is there a trick to this? I have tried using penetrating oil and nothing seems to work to get the bolts out. The left nut came off fine. I don't want to beat the bolt with a rubber mallet too much as I don't want to destroy the threads. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Did you loosen the track tension first?

you need to make sure that tension is off first.

The first time i took the rear axle out of the XT it was siezed and was a bear to remove we had it out of the sled and soaked and heated to get the spacers to move on the bolt and let it come out.
 
If it's the first time removing it you will probably find it easier with the skid on the shop floor. You will probably hate yourself after about an hour struggling to get the axle back in with all the spacers not falling out on you, the track doesn't have enough slack even when the adjusters off to really let you work is there. If the axle is bent it will really fight you and you'll need the wiggle room. The big nut under the cotter pin is the only fastener that will remove. The steel head bolt is threaded in then pinned so it won't back out.
 
There should be one long bolt through all wheels (acts as an axle). If it is only the nut side wheel, just slide the new one on with the track tension completely removed and the slack pulled to the rear. Helps to suspend the sled slightly and place a floor jack at the front of the track and lift slightly. If it is the bolt side or middle wheel, then just take the nut side wheel off and the first spacer, and replace the nut and tighten until almost flush with the bolt end. Use a large punch and give it quite a wallop to break it loose with a hand held sledge. Be sure to not damage the threads (why you put the nut back on). The bolt will pull completely out of all wheels, spacers, rails and rail washers.
 
Thanks for all the help and advice guys. I ends up pulling the skid to get better access. Turns out the bearings in the centre two wheels were seized to the axle. The first one I had to remove the c clip on the bearing and used an angle grinder to remove the bearing. The second one I manipulated a bit with a rubber mallet and it finally broke free and the axle pulled out without damage. Now that I have the skid out, I might as well rebuild the whole thing. I really appreciate everyone's input!
 
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