Tyres removed from both wheels, ready for blasting and powder coating. Looks like I've got a job on my hands with these cush drive rubbers. Are these that difficult to remove? I've seen some home made tools used for extracting, but I don't have the facility to make one of these. I've also read that heat needs to be applied around the area, and a slide hammer can be used (another tool I don't have). Any advice on best method for doing this? Also, can these parts be re-used, or is it always best to replace the whole set with new?
You want some of those expanding wall plug bolt thingyies. Fit 1 through so the thread end is sticking out. Then put a large socket over the cush drive so it sits on the wheel but the socket hole needs to be bigger than the cush drive. The bolt part of the wall bolt will go through the socket. then use some washers or a piece of metal with a hole in it on the socket. put the nut on the bolt thread, do it up and it will pull the cush drive out.
Find a long-ish threaded M8 allen head bolt and some 25mm diameter washers that will fit the bolt and not come off the head head. I would use 2 or 3 washers. Look through the opposite side of the wheel and you can see the end of the cush bushes. Stick the bolt onto a suitable bit and extension bar and poke the bolt in through the wheel so it comes out the outside of the wheel - fit a ratchet to the extension bar so you can keep the bolt in and stop it turning. Get a socket large enough to fit the shoulders of the cush drive housing and pass the socket over the bolt; add 2 washers and a nut. Wind the nut so it starts to get tight and keep going so it draws the centre bush against the rubber.....eventually it will pull the outer of the cush bush into the socket.......it might not come all the way out unless the socket is deep enough to get all the bush into it, but it should get it far enough so you can wiggle it right out. If removing cush drive bushes, I would always replace them. AL
Thanks for the excellent tips and advice. I don't really want to remove them TBH, but don't see I have much choice if they are being blasted/coated. It's probably a false economy to try painting them.
The painters should mask off the seats if you remove them so they can be replaced, if left in-situ the painters should then mask the rubbers but if they are left in they could get damaged by thinners/heat/painting process? Bit of a faff but probably worth changing while you have the opportunity
I didn't know we were talking about a 999 as well...... Quite easy if that happens - you collapse the outer metal part using something like an old screwdriver with a pointed end. BTW I meant to say use washers a bit less in diameter than the hole in the back of the cush housing in the wheel - about 20 mm IIRC.
A few years back when I was getting my original wheels powdercoated, I was advised by the powdercoater that the bushes needed renewed as they would be destroyed during removal of the old powdercoat. Little did I know at the time that they would use quite an aggressive blast media to remove the old stuff as it clearly pitted the surface of the wheel, including the bearing surfaces. I looked into removal methods and its a pain in the ar$e job the first time round. I think if I did it now Id be better at it. The methods above are pretty much the way I would do it, although someone on the FB SS page recently got one of these, so I did....oh, and to heat the area, use boiling water. If you do remove one without the outer sleeve coming out, then grind a slot in it with a dremel, not quite all the way through, to help you collapse it.
I hope that this would be small enough to go into the bushes as it would make it quite straightforward, use wood to brace against wheel.
I recently had my front and rear wheels powdercoated when I swapped the 4.5inch rear on my 1995 ss/cr to a 5.5inch wheel. I tried a couple pullers including the style you show above and the issue was they weren't deep enough to grab the edge of the inner sleeve of the bushing. Even an inner bearing puller with a 3lb slide hammer didn't budge them because of course, they are rubber damped. What eventually worked well was $1.50 worth of long lag bolt/nuts/washers and a piece of pipe (actually a heater element removal tool for an RV hot water heater that I had lying around but any piece of scrap pipe of the right ID would work). This setup popped them out easily and they were all reusable if you see fit. I replaced them after powder coating with new using an old bushing as a driver, honestly I would never reinstall 25 year old rubber bushings, but that's up to you. And of course here's freshly powdercoated wheels with new bearings, cleaned up rotors, new bushings, new tires, ready to go back on the bike. Cheers
