Freewheeler Body Removal

[TPost]

I'm getting ready to add some V&H slip ons to my Freewheeler. I'm also going to add lift brackets and upgraded shocks. I need to pull the body to access the rear hanger bolts.

Any tips or tricks to pulling the body off. Not exactly sure how many bolts are holding the body on. Thanks in advance. Todd

 

[ROAD DOG]

The body has 4 or 6 bolts 1/2 inch wrench, pull the side covers, the seat , unplug the wires , remove backrest if you have one, two people can lift it no problem, it's a little easyer with the wheels off . you can get the muffler bolts off with the body on pain in the ass butt your changing the shocks so you might as well take it off.

 

[Old Road Dog]

Remove carpet liner in this order: Bottom. Bulkhead. Wrap around. 4 bolts in bottom of box to frame. 2 in forward bulkhead. 1 each side under side covers. Use a small tab of cardboard and blue tape at the seat mount.Cardboard and tape at the muffler louvers. Blue tape everything. Especially the wrap around at the bottom each side. I use 4 eyebolts in the rafters and rachet straps to lift the body.I agree taking the wheels off makes it easier to clear the fenders. If you were only doing slip ons you could get away with lifting and blocking the body. DO NOT apply jack to bottom fiberglass to lift the body up!

 

[kceder001]

Like was said above. 4 bolts in floor of trunk, 2 at top forward of trunk, 1 under each side cover. Unplug electrical plug where the back of the seat would be (mine is gray) One person on each side, blankets to sit it on.

I had a harder time getting it back on. Getting it in just the right place. Then again, the person helping me does not know the meaning of the word finesse.

I was going to put it back before putting the wheels on, seems it would be easier, but figured that would make it a little more awkward to get the jack stands out.

As far as jacking it, and Im gonna get roasted for this im sure, I used a floor jack with a 2x4 across it, at the very rearmost of the frame where the clutch cover is. Went in from the side. As far as the front wheel wanting to come off the ground, had my helper hold it down (takes little to no effort) until I got the jack stands under it. Yes, kinda sketchy, No, not what I would prefer nor reccomend, and yes, made sure no body parts were under anything. Having the body already off seemed to make it quite a bit less tail end heavy. Another reason to leave the wheels on, if anything went bad, she would land on her feet.

Others have put the jack under the rear crossmember, including Kevin from DK customs as I recall. Harley doesn't recommend it, even though Im sure is probably been done a thousand times with no issue. Honestly, I debated a lot on which way to do it. I wish I had a floor mounted front wheel vise, that would be the best.

 

[TPost]

Lifting shouldn't be a issue. I bought a jack adapter for my floorjack from Kustom FX. It has a slot on the other side that the tie down ring on the bottom of the axle goes through. Todd

 

[kceder001]

Much better solution.

 

[Longbeard71]

I changed my shocks and mufflers with body on. It was not hard to do.

 

[JTJersey]

As far as jacking it, and Im gonna get roasted for this im sure, I used a floor jack with a 2x4 across it, at the very rearmost of the frame where the clutch cover is. Went in from the side. As far as the front wheel wanting to come off the ground, had my helper hold it down (takes little to no effort) until I got the jack stands under it.

I put these in a couple years ago and they work fine for holding the front wheel down. Like you said, it doesn't take much.

 

[pigfoot63]

Here is my jacking solution . I use two V2 adapters from KustomFX, along with two Harbor Freight trolley jacks.
These little jacks work great. One will go with me on a long trip.

 

[JTJersey]

Here is my jacking solution . I use two V2 adapters from KustomFX along with two Harbor Freight trolley jacks. These little jacks work great. One will go with me onView attachment 134836View attachment 134837 long trip.

I've got one of those and it easily lifts a back wheel up with barely any effort. Guess I'm going to have to get a second one after seeing your pics.

 

[pigfoot63]

Hard to beat the price when they go on sale. I left my trike jacked up over night and it was in the same height as it was when lifted it

 

[Notgrownup]

You don’t have to remove it but it makes working on everything under so much easier. And you can go over all the critical fasteners, clean everything and just learn about your machine.

 

[TPost]

The body came off really easy. Not very heavy, just kinda awkward. Had to do a little tilting and wiggling to get the rear valance to clear the after most cross member.

I'm doing a shock upgrade with lift kit. Also going to add Vance and Hines slip-ons.
So much easier with the body off. I can work on a stool verses laying on the garage floor. Definitely worth the extra effort to pull the body.

 

[Rogue1]

Very cool, looks just like my tri glide.LOL

 

[pwhoever]

Yes, I agree. With body off, it's much easier to work on the various components.

 

[ROAD DOG]

Its easy to remove the body, plus you get a chance to see whats going on under there. the shock bolts are usually so tight from the factory you need a 6 ft pipe to loosen them, post a picture of the new shocks & mufflers with the body off.

 

[TPost]

Its easy to remove the body, plus you get a chance to see whats going on under there. the shock bolts are usually so tight from the factory you need a 6 ft pipe to loosen them, post a picture of the new shocks & mufflers with the body off.

Yeah, waaaay easier with the body off!! All the bolts were crazy tight! The hex heads that hold on the e-brake bracket were stupid tight. It also gave me easy access to chase all the threads before putting it all back together. I'm going to install the slip ons tomorrow morning.

 

[Notgrownup]

What slip ons were you using before or was it stock?

 

[TPost]

What slip ons were you using before or was it stock?

I'm adding Vance and Hines. It has the stock Harley slip ons.

 

[ROAD DOG]

How many miles on this ? Your tires look new

 

[TPost]

Slip ons are installed. Just need to clean up all the road dust and put the body back on.

 

[TPost]

How many miles on this ? Your tires look new

It's a 2016. When I bought it it had less the 1100 miles on it. I bought it through a dealer. They replaced all 3 tires when they got it in their shop.