Casters Seized in 'UP' Position on 70's Mark V

[SaturnMarkV]

The casters on one side of my new-to-me Mark V are stuck in the 'up' position, so that the one side is never too stable.

I've tried penetrating oil, but nothing helps. Is this a common problem?

[reible]

I've not seen that on any of my machines. I think it might be a good time to take them off and clean and lube them.

When I did the caster upgrade I did that on my original 76 machine, wire brushed the rod and all. It had been working but afterwards it was amazing how much nicer it worked. I was more impressed with that difference then I was the new casters.

Ed

[everettdavis]

Remove them, clean off oils or dirt... especially that penetrating oil which will reduce the life of Evaporust severely.. Soap and water to get it cleaned off...

Place them in a plastic container adapted to conserve space as I describe below to soak them in Evaporust.

If you need to conserve space, place a few bricks, rocks etc, in the to reduce the amount of liquid you might need to cover the caster assembly fully, then cover the area with plastic, Visqueen, etc. then lay the casters down in the area inside the plastic, filling it with Evaporust, and cover it to help prevent excessive evaporation.

Let it soak overnight, longer if really rusted. You will be amazed how well it works on rust and frees up mechanisms.

Reclaim the Evaporust liquid through a coffee filter and use a funnel to store it in the original container.

It is re-usable several times, and is environmentally safe to use.

Everett

[sryoder]

Whatever you do, DON'T use PB Blaster to loosen things up unless you protect the wheels very well first. I used it on the early 80s Mk V that I passed on to my son and, much to my surprise, the wheels just fell apart the next day. The plastic just sort of disintegrated. Lesson learned.