I'll try not to be long winded...About 2 months ago I swapped out the front the wheel on my 2008 RKC (with ABS) for DNA mammoth fat spoke wheel. Got wheel with ABS bearing, tire, and rotors. Took everything to a local indy who mounted the tire to the wheel and balanced with dyna beeds. I took everything home mounted it up basically a direct bolt on and I tripple checked the spacers even though wht ABS it's really hard to get them wrong.

Mounted the wheel and spins freely. With the tire in the air I can spin the front wheel 4-5 rotations with very little effort. I then put on the rotors and had drag. I figured maybe the rotors being new needed to seat with the old brake pads that were to be replaced soon anyway. No bid deal I rode that way for about 600 miles and the rotors never seeemed to get hot.

Yesterday I changed out the front pads to Lyndall Z Plus Pads. Cleaned the rotors and pistons wiht brake cleaner and lubed the pistons and pin with Dot 4 brake fluid. Wend to check and now it seems to rub worse. I have to put a fair ammount of effort to spin the wheel a full rotation.

My trouble shooting ideas;
-Take off one caliper at a time to see if the wheel spins freely to pinpoint which side is draging or if both are draging.
-Double check fluid level even though I know i filled it less than max.
-Take it for a ride and really try to get the pads to seat with the rotors, then re-check the free spin.
-Take it in to see if one of the rotors is warped or bent.

Anyting I am missing or suggestions would be greatly apprecieated.

 

I would first ask if you followed the axel torque procedure in the service manual? If not, I would start there.

You noted that on the first install, you could get 4-5 rotations of the front wheel with "little effort". I am not sure what the means but with the wheel in the air, axle torques to spec, no calipers installed, you should see at least twice as many rotations with a good hard spin of the wheel; it should spin for a while.

As for you trouble shooting suggestions. I would add at the top of the list to loosen the axle and re-torque to spec following the service manual procedure. Then take a ride and follow the Lyndall break in procedure. If not satisfied at that point pull the calipers and re-install one at a time.

Before you pull the calipers you should be able to look closely and see where the rotors are off center. Pull the caliper and re-install one at a time. I think what you will find is that one caliper may have to shift inward (toward the wheel)and one outward (away from the wheel), or one centered and one not. A caliper that needs to move inward can be shimmed; it may only have to move .010"-.020" to center up. I am running a new wheel on the front of my '02 FLHT and the wheel rotated OK but not perfect. So, being **** retentive, I wanted the rotor dead center of the pads and used some .010" shims to achieve that. Unfortunately, a caliper that needs to move outward cannot be shimmed and may require trimming of the spacer on that side to shift the wheel/rotor. If that is the case; that caliper should be the first one you center up before addressing the other side.

 

Well I went home at lunch to trouble shoot and here's what I found. Fluid level is good. Took off calipers and whell spins freeely, more like 14-15 tuns easy. I looked at the pistons and sure enough they are not pushing out evenly so first I am going to re-clean them and see what I can find.
Then I put back on one of the calipers and I can hear a little drag, but I get more like 4-5 revolutions with every spin. The only issue I have is there seems to be a "high spot" or something on the rotor where every revolution at the same spot the dragging sound is louder for just a second. It doesn't appear to stop or slow the wheel (it's not getting hung up) but you can definatley hear something. I looked and the rotor does not seem to be warped. I even put up a long straight edge accross the rotor and slowly rotated the wheel to see if I could find a gap or area that was not flush.

I then tried the other side and have the exact same issue there. I did not mark the rotor locations to see if it was happening at the same spot but will try that when I get home. Right now I am running dyna beads and now I am wondering if maybe my wheel is not aligned correctly? I know my brother in law had them and went back to weights. When he went to get the weights put on they told him his wheel was out of alignment. They run beasds there as well and told him it looked like he had about 60% of the beads they would have normally used. Is there a chance my wheel is out of alignment and that is causing the rotors to rub, or would I even be able to notice spinnning it slow.

 

14-15 rotations with calipers removed sounds much better than 4-5. Could be uneven surfaces of the pads. When I install a front wheel, I apply full brakes before locking down the axle which centers the rotor in the pads. Lyndall has a break in procedure for their pads to "seat" them to the rotors. Follow the Lyndall break in procedure and see if that doesn't help. Sounds like you are sneaking up on the problem.

 

Thanks for responses. I will clean them one more time and take it out for a test ride and try Lynalls break in procedure. Think I may loosen the axle and try your method of applying the front breaks before locking down the axle.

 

It could also be rotors that are out of true. As per Harley spec is .008". We always check rotors prior to shipping to ensure that they are within spec. Most places do not bother to do this.

 

I am in a jam and need some assistance. I do not have a service manual. I do NOT have a service manual.

I need the proper torque procedure to install a front wheel on my 03 EGC. I have installed an '11 RG wheel/rotors that I picked up from Airborne34 and before installing the brembo calipers, I spun the wheel and the rotors appear to have a run out close to 3/16". Yes, that is right, the rotors move roughly 3/16" from the left to the right as the wheel spins. Both rotors seem to move at the same time on the wheel and about the same distance. I put a pointer close the the tire and it shoes true. So I am not really sure what to do. It really looks like the rotors are that far out!

Thanks, KG

ETA: I PM'd Airborne34 and he did not have any issues with the rotors as far as being warped. They were mounted on the rim/tire assy during shipping and must have gotten bent sometime between his place and mine. I took them off and put a straight edge on both them and my '03s. There was hardly any gap on the 03s but about 3/16" on the '11s. I installed the 03s and will have to order more rotors and a couple sets of pads to complete the job.

 

If Lyndall has a break-in procedure for pads I'd like to see it because all I can find is in the FAQ's that clearly state they do not need to break-in. My reds with lug drive rotors drag like crazy. I'm still trying to solve it.

 

You SHOULD get a service manual. You SHOULD get a service manual. Although, in this case, it might not help.

I recently installed a '10 FLHX 18" wheel to replace the 16" front wheel on my '02 FLHT. The '02 axle torque procedure requires the axle nut be torqued to spec (IIRC 55 ft/lb) while holding the axle with something through the hole on the right (brake) side. When the axle is torqued to spec, insert a 7/16" drill bit into the hole on the right side and "pull" the fork out until it touches the drill bit and torque down the axle clamp nuts.

The torque procedure for the later models, is just the opposite.

I found that the later model procedure worked in my case. If using the early model procedure, caliper to rotor alignment was off. Using the later model procedure, caliper to rotor alignment was dead nuts on.