Rear wheel issues

[Jtac15]

Got a pace with 3000 miles. Recently the rear wheel came loose while riding. Now i cant get the wheel back on. Dont know if part of the frame where axle rests is broken. Can any one tell me if this looks normal or did a pce break off? Thank you

 

[Jason Knight]

Whilst your dropouts are BADLY chewed up, there's more than enough metal still there. The damage to your dropouts almost looks like someone tried to force it in the wrong way with a hammer.

Your problem is you're not lining them up right, they are not -- or at least should not -- be perfectly round. They have (or should have) two flat sides without thread that you line up with the fork. This is to help the shaft not rotate in the mounts.

Using a pair of slip-nose pliers or adjustable wrench hook onto the shaft, and slowly rotate it back and forth, and it should just drop in. A LOT of people miss the detail it's not fully threaded the whole way around. Sometimes they are smooth on one side only, and that usually goes towards the front of the bike. Other times they're smooth on two sides in which case it's reversible.

Yours looks like the former, but it's hard to tell from the pics. If you've got only one side smooth, rotate the shaft 180 degrees and try again.

 

[Jtac15]

Thanks. I got the wheel in and tightened up a couple of times. When i pedal with no motor its fine. As soon as i use the motor the wheel spins out and that in turn winds up the motor wire around the axle as well. So it falls out of the dropout everytime there to much torque. Someone recommended a torque arm. Im going to try that. Ordered one online. Ive emailed Aventon and got no response. Terrible customer service. Anyway thanks for your help. Ill try again.

 

[AHicks]

You are WAY past due learning about, and installing, a quality pair of torque arms. These are designed to minimize/eliminate the exact issue you are experiencing. Suggest you install one on each side to prevent further damage to the bike's frame.

Amazon.com : torque arm ebike

 

[Jtac15]

I have em ordered.that should keep the wheel from falling out of the drop out i would think. Its only a 350 watt motor so i would think they should work.

 

[AHicks]

I have em ordered.that should keep the wheel from falling out of the drop out i would think. Its only a 350 watt motor so i would think they should work.

You're still going to have to keep an eye on them. They need to be tight, even with the torque arms installed.

 

[Jtac15]

You're still going to have to keep an eye on them. They need to be tight, even with the torque arms installed.

Thanks

 

[rich c]

A good aluminum welder can build that area back up, but it will take some accurate file and grinder work to make it true again. I can't believe you didn't feel the rear wheel was loose, you put a lot of miles on with it rattling around back there. It also looks like the axle was never at the bottom of the slot. All the metal that is chewed up is half way up from the slot. I suspect it was never assembled correctly!

 

[JuicePower]

Whilst your dropouts are BADLY chewed up, there's more than enough metal still there. The damage to your dropouts almost looks like someone tried to force it in the wrong way with a hammer.

Your problem is you're not lining them up right, they are not -- or at least should not -- be perfectly round. They have (or should have) two flat sides without thread that you line up with the fork. This is to help the shaft not rotate in the mounts.

Using a pair of slip-nose pliers or adjustable wrench hook onto the shaft, and slowly rotate it back and forth, and it should just drop in. A LOT of people miss the detail it's not fully threaded the whole way around. Sometimes they are smooth on one side only, and that usually goes towards the front of the bike. Other times they're smooth on two sides in which case it's reversible.

Yours looks like the former, but it's hard to tell from the pics. If you've got only one side smooth, rotate the shaft 180 degrees and try again.

Practice makes perfect. I have 2 flat sides and a special washer each side with a tab the goes in the drop out slot

5,500 miles on Aventon Level with original tires and no flats.
8 flats in 8 weeks 2 flats today.
I am getting good at dropping the wheel out.

Goodyear, slime and Blackburn tubes.. 3 bad puncture and the rest bad tubes. Leaks at the welded seams and leaks at the rim side of the tube not the tread side. Slime didn't help.

 

[tomjasz]

A good aluminum welder can build that area back up, but it will take some accurate file and grinder work to make it true again. I can't believe you didn't feel the rear wheel was loose, you put a lot of miles on with it rattling around back there. It also looks like the axle was never at the bottom of the slot. All the metal that is chewed up is half way up from the slot. I suspect it was never assembled correctly!

Chipped paint…

 

[Jason Knight]

Thanks. I got the wheel in and tightened up a couple of times. When i pedal with no motor its fine. As soon as i use the motor the wheel spins out and that in turn winds up the motor wire around the axle as well. So it falls out of the dropout everytime there to much torque.

Looking at your pics again there is WAY too much gap between the dropouts and the inner nut. (The EC32 pic it's obvious) Your stays might also be bent out of whack. Do you have the same quarter inch gap on the other side, or is it flush?

You might be missing some washers there. Torque arms aren't a bad idea, but if you're having to "bend the frame" with the outer nuts or if you can't apply enough torque to do the same, that's why it keeps letting go in all likelihood.

A couple of overlap lock-washers between the inner nut and the dropouts to fill up that gap might be all you need. Or you're putting the washers that go on the inside on the outside, I've seen that too.

 

[Jason Knight]

Chipped paint…

Technically powder coat, but yeah. As I said there's more than enough metal still there. The lack of wear on the powder coat where things should be clamped down is what made me look at the third pic and go "gap problem, what type of washers are filling the gap and/or where are they placing them?"

Could be lighting money on fire with "torque arms' for what three bucks of washers from the hardware store could fix.

 

[AHicks]

Technically powder coat, but yeah. As I said there's more than enough metal still there. The lack of wear on the powder coat where things should be clamped down is what made me look at the third pic and go "gap problem, what type of washers are filling the gap and/or where are they placing them?"

Could be lighting money on fire with "torque arms' for what three bucks of washers from the hardware store could fix.

You might look into torque arm usage a bit further prior to pushing that opinion much. Washers do absolutely nothing to prevent the axle from working within that drop out. While you don't see them uses much in production bikes (manf's trying to save .25) they're pretty popular on homebuilts, especially those with bigger power....

I think if the bike had been equipped with at least 1 torque arm when built, our OP wouldn't have the issue he has today.

 

[Jason Knight]

You might look into torque arm usage a bit further prior to pushing that opinion much. Washers do absolutely nothing to prevent the axle from working within that drop out.

Notice I said overlap lock washers, which are designed to dig into both sides -- frame and nut. The shaft is lifting off the dropout. LOOK at his dropout where there's zero nut or torque marks! Combined with that giant gap I'm surprised it's not dropping out under pedal power because there clearly has never been enough force between the nut and the frame.

Which is why there's this baby-ring in the paint and no exposed metal where the nut meets up. That middle pic speaks volumes about what's going on here.

Particularly since there are no scrape marks from the nut being dragged out of place when it comes out. I would question if the nut is even engaging the dropout properly.