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March 29, 2001 by Brian P.
I just got done changing the rear tire and rear brake pads on my 1996
Heritage Softail. The procedure I used may differ for other Harley models,
but should be appropriate, at least, for other late model softails. I try to
do as much of my own wrenching, that I can, for two reasons. First of all,
it saves me money. With shop rates at $30-$50 per hour, a repair bill can
add up fast. Secondly, it helps me gain familiarity and bond with my
machine. That experience could prove very handy, if you breakdown someday,
along a lonely stretch of road, somewhere in B.F.E. If you plan on doing
some of your own wrenching, be sure to pick up a shop manual for your
particular year and model of bike. Mine has proven invaluable. You can get
these from various sources, I got mine through J&P Cycles. Also get into the
habit of using only the tools that you keep with you in your tool bag. If
you find, in the course of your wrenching, that you need another tool, then
add that tool to your tool bag. That way you will be sure to have the tools
that you need, to fix your bike, if you break down away from home.
To get the rear tire off, you will need to elevate the rear end, well off
the ground. I have a bike lift that lifts the entire bike something like 18
inches off of the floor. You will also need to support the tire as you take
out the axle and remove the belt, and again as you reinstall everything. I
found that an automotive floor jack works quite well for this purpose.
With the bike up in the air, raise the floor jack so it’s just supporting
the weight of the tire. Go to the left side of the bike and remove the
cotter pin from the axle nut. Remove the axle nut (15/16 In.), washer and
collar. This collar has a notch into which the axle adjusting bolt (9/16
In.) protrudes. You may need to back off the axle adjuster a turn of two to
get the collar off. You only need to do this to the left side. Leave the
right side alone. To do this, mark a flat on the bolt with paint, then
loosen the jam nut, and back out the bolt. I usually back the adjuster out
two complete revolutions. Be sure to return the bolt back to its original
position and tighten the jam nut, upon reassembling everything.
Now get a hammer and gently tap the axle out the swing arm, belt pulley and
wheel hub, from left to right. There is a spacer between the inside of the
swing arm and the belt pulley that will fall out as you do this. The spacer
has some grooves around its periphery at one end. The grooved end goes
towards the swing arm. Once you tap the axle flush with the swing arm,
you’ll need to use a tool (like a narrow rod or screwdriver) to help you to
continue tapping it out. You should be able to pull the axle out from the
right side once you get the axle halfway out or so. Note that there will be
a notched collar, for axle adjustment on the right side also, between the
swing arm and the head of the axle.
Now jack the tire up a little higher and push the jack and tire forward as
much as you can. This should give you enough slack to get the belt off the
pulley. Pull the jack and tire back, and lower the jack. You'll need to
take the tire and tilt the bottom out to the right side to get it out from
under the fender. Now pull the jack out from under the bike. Note that there
will be spacers left inside the wheel hub on both ends. Be careful that you
don’t lose these when you take the tire in to get the new rubber mounted,
and check to make sure that they are in the hub when you pick the wheel up
again.
Now that you have the wheel back, with the new rubber mounted, you need to
reinstall everything. Do yourself a favor prior to attempting this. Remove
the caliper and brake pads before you attempt to reinstall the rear wheel.
Its very difficult, if not impossible to get the rotor positioned back in
between the brake pads as you try to jockey the tire into position. Besides,
it’s a good opportunity to inspect and replace the brake pads as long as
you’re working on the rear of the bike, anyway. On my bike the upper muffler
runs in front of the caliper, so I removed it prior to working with the
caliper.
Grab the caliper and rock it back and forth to try and compress the piston
as far in as possible. This will make it easier to remove the caliper from
the mounting bracket. The caliper attaches to the mounting bracket with 2
Torx head (T45) pin bolts. Remove the pin bolts and try to separate the
caliper from the mounting bracket and brake pads. Chances are that the
piston is not compressed enough to allow the caliper to separate cleanly.
What may happen, is that the piston will catch on the spring clip, causing
the pads, clip and pad shims to fall out on the floor as you remove the
caliper. But that’s OK, that’s why the shop manual comes in handy with some
nice pictures showing how everything goes back together. Now tie the caliper
up and out of the way of the tire’s space, as far forward and to the right,
as possible. I used bungee cords to restrain the caliper.
Now you are ready to reinstall the rear tire. Roll the jack back under the
fender and tilt and lift the tire resting it upon the jack. Raise the tire a
little more than its normal position and move the jack and tire forward as
much as possible. This should give you enough slack to slip the belt over
the pulley. Move the tire back and lower to normal mounting height. You will
be attempting to line up the hole in the hub with the holes in the swing arm
and caliper mounting brackett. You will likely need to do a little jockeying
of the tire, back and forth, up and down to get everything to line up.
Once you have the hub lined up with the swing arm holes, you are ready to
insert the axle. Now get some anti-seize and coat the axle before it is
reinstalled. Put the notched collar on over the axle and then insert it
through the swing arm hole on the right hand side. Gently tap the axle
through toward the left side. As you see the axle beginning to emerge
through the pulley, position the spacer in place. Continue tapping on the
axle until completely through the swing arm. Now put the notched collar and
washer (in that order) over the axle and screw on the axle nut. Now you can
lower the jack and remove it from the area. At this point the left side axle
adjustment bolt can be returned to its original position. Its always a good
idea to check the rear axle alignment. This involves measuring the distance
between swing arm pivot bolt and the axle, and adjusting until both sides
are the same distance apart. If you tightened the adjuster the same amount
as you loosened it earlier, then the alignment should be OK. Don't forget to
tighten the adjuster jam nut, when you're sure everything is OK. Now you are
ready to tighten down the axle nut. The torque spec is 60-65 Ft-Lb. Don’t
over tighten or the wheel could seize. Once tightened to specification,
insert a new cotter pin through the axle nut.
Now all that’s left is to install the new brake pads and reinstall the
caliper. Before you go any farther do yourself another favor. Compress the
caliper piston all the way into the bore of the caliper. If the plunger
protrudes from the caliper, the caliper will not fit over the brake pads,
rotor and spring clip. Believe me, I tried it, it won’t go, no matter how
hard you try. The caliper will get hung up on the spring clip.
To compress the caliper piston, you will first need to remove some brake
fluid from the rear brake master cylinder. In case you don’t know where the
rear brake master cylinder is, it is located down, just inboard of the rear
brake pedal. Remove the 2 screws and the master cylinder cover and seal. Now
you will need to suck out some of the brake fluid, but be careful to not
remove too much, otherwise you’ll introduce air into the system and will
need to bleed your brakes. Leave the master cylinder 1/4 to 1/2 full, and
set the cover and seal back on the reservoir I used my Mity-Vac to remove
the fluid.
Now you are ready to compress the piston. You won’t be able to do it with
your hands. I used a C-clamp to compress the piston back into the bore. It
went in pretty easily with fluid removed from the master cylinder. Now look
at the caliper mounting bracket. You’ll see an upper and lower hole. These
are the holes for the pin bolts that fasten the caliper to the mounting
bracket. You’ll see that each hole was drilled through a 3 sided cylindrical
feature in the mounting bracket. Now look at the pad shims. They have a 3
sided semi-cylindrical shape with a hole on one end. It’s easy to see, and
the shop manual confirms it, that they sit over the 3 sided cylindrical
feature in the mounting bracket. The hole in the end of the shim lines up
perfectly with the hole in the bracket. The bottom shim will stay in place
by itself, but since the upper cylindrical feature in the mounting bracket
faces down, you’ll need to keep your finger on the upper shim, until the
brake pads are in place.
The inboard and outboard brake pads are identical. They consist of about 3/8
in thick friction material attached to a metal backing plate. The pad
backing plate has “ears” which captivate the pad between the upper and lower
shims on the mounting bracket. Install the pads with the friction material
toward the rotor. Place the inboard pad between the shims first and press
against the rotor. Next, place the outboard pad between the shims and press
it against the rotor. Now take the spring clip and fit it so that the ends
of the spring clip protrude into holes in the backside of the mounting
bracket. You can’t see these spring clip holes, but feel for them with your
finger on the backside of the mounting bracket, so you can guide the clip
into them. You can now spring the clip down over the top of both of the pad
backing plates, which holds the pads in place against the rotor.
Now take the caliper. You’ll find that it will easily straddle the sandwich
of the brake pads and rotor. Line up the holes in the caliper with the holes
in the backing plate. Put some caliper lube on the shouldered part of the
pin bolts and fasten the caliper to the backing plate. Torque the pin bolts
to 15-20 Ft-Lb. Now take the cover back off of the rear brake master
cylinder. You’ll find that the fluid level has risen. Top off the reservoir
with silicone based DOT-5 brake fluid. Put the cover and seal back on the
master cylinder and tighten the 2 screws. Now you will need to pump the rear
brake pedal until the caliper piston extends enough to force the pads into
the rotor. At first you’ll have no brake at all, but after several pumps
you’ll feel the pedal firm up. Now you can replace your muffler, if you
removed it for caliper access, and finally lower the bike to the floor. That
completes the job.
Doing the job yourself will save you about 1 hour labor for the tire
installation and 1/2 hour for the brake job. At $30-$50 per hour, you save
$45-$75 that you can use to buy some chrome do-dad for your bike, instead
;-0. The job may take you a littler longer than it would a trained mechanic,
but you’ll get a nice feeling of accomplishment and knowledge that the job
was done right.
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