Icebear 50cc differential Noise New and NEED HELP By adolphsson09 (Read 3,673 times)

[adolphsson09]

I am new here and looking for help! I bought an Icebear 50cc trike for my neighbor in April 2013. She has put 229 miles on it and by the way she is 75 years old and I felt the trike was safer than the moped she was riding so I bought it for her. Ok heres the problem the differential (rear axle) is making a light clunking noise when sitting on it and backing up or going forward, the  trike makes the noise when you drive it. It is obvious something is wrong and I don't want her to ride it until it is repaired correctly for safety reasons. The left axle (the one while sitting on it) moves in and out maybe an 1/8th to 1/4". I will not let her ride it until it is fixed and for a 75 year old lady she acts like a kid because that is her toy to get around town during the summer months. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated!!! Oh and I bought this from Killermotorsports and have received terrible customer support over the last 2 years and really hate to ask for any more help from them, sad but true.

Thanks

Nick

(Adolphsson09)

[royldoc]

Check to see if the wheel hubs are tight on the axles. Does the wheels have any play in them ? If so you need to tighten the castle nut on the axle. you may also need to add another washer between hub and nut.

Roy

[adolphsson09]

The rims are tight to the hub. I took the hub and wheel off and the axle itself moves in and out on the left side. I spun the other wheel and it almost sounds like a card with a clothes pin hooked to the fork of a bicycle (If you ever did that when you were a kid) The clicking (clunking) sound seems to be coming from inside the differential. Really disappointing considering it only has 229 miles on it

[royldoc]

The axle should not move in and out. On my 2010 the spacer behind the bearing on thexle chewed up the axle tube. I had to bore the tube out and used a thicker bearing.


In this photo you can see the inside of axle tube.

Roy

[royldoc]

The edge of spacers are chewed up as well.



Not the right photo WTH!

[royldoc]

Also I have since modified the axle tube and no longer use the snap ring to hold the axle in place. I welded a ring to the outside of axle tube at the end with three holes drilled and tapped. I then machined another ring with a lip that fits inside axle tube to press bearing in the tube. It is then bolted to the ring on the axle tube. I will try to get some photo's if I remember.

Roy

[adolphsson09]

Im having a hard time believing that this trike would have troubles so early in its life. I guess I wont know the damage until we take it apart and look. I cant find any info on the parts or breakdown of this thing. I hate tearing into anything without either one Hopefully someone can help me with this

[royldoc]

The rear ends on these are fairly simple. It is an open differential. Ally has some photo's of the parts here somewhere and he will probably chime in sooner or later. He is our local expert. Check the triker's alley section. Behind the wheel hub is a dust seal. Behind the dust seal is a large snap ring. Yours may have some small screws in the axle tube just inside where the fenders clamp on the tube. This is a safety measure they added as per ally's recommendation. There is a sleeve welded to axle and the sleeve will hit the screws if the axle starts to pull out. Remove dust seal and snap ring. re-install hub. The easiest way to get axle out is to use a slide hammer.

Roy

[adolphsson09]

So you are saying to take off hub, remove the seal and snap ring, check for screws, remove if there are any, reinstall the hub then use slide hammer to remove the axle? When I get the axle out what am I looking for? Is it better to take the whole differential rear end off the trike to do this? I have never worked on one of these but I do consider myself somewhat mechanically inclined, as I do all my own mechanic work unless its something I don't want to deal with some things in life its just an easier headache to write a check.

[royldoc]

Yep, that's about it. You don't really need to take the whole rear off. Check the splines on axle and in hubs, snap ring still in groove, bearings and axle tube. If you pull both axles out you can get the differential out. Take off chain and remove four bolts on each side holding differential, it should slide out (may need a little persuasion). To get differential apart remove the crown nuts holding sprocket and remove bolts and brake rotor. It is sealed with silicon. There is also locator pins for the two halves. It has a shaft that holds two bevel gears, thrust bearing, and sealing washers. There are two bevel gears that drive the axles and if I remember thrust bearings. The grease that is in them is more like vaseline and should be cleaned out and replaced with good quality grease.

Roy

[adolphsson09]

I also noticed that this thing has slung grease out of the casing and made a mess Where do I find parts if I am lucky enough to get this thing apart? Im hoping they are not crazy in the prices

[royldoc]

Mine was slinging grease also. after I cleaned out old grease. I resealed it with red silicon. probably leaking around the shaft. Put a good amount of silicon around the housing and shaft when you reassemble. Talk to Jim at Rapid Repair, he is the go to guy for ice bear parts.

Roy

[adolphsson09]

OK Great THANK YOU!!

[crwford]

You should be able to get parts from Rapid Repair my wife's 2015 Zodiac broke a axle he had no problem get us parts I be he can fix you up. By the way he is a Ice Bear dealer and most times he can answer any questions on is Ice Bear products.

[adolphsson09]

So this is what I found a flat spot on the shaft of the 2 gears and the gears are sloppy