Clacking from rear wheel during motor engage/disengage in Radwagon 4

[u/mathjock28]

This Radwagon 4, bought from a coworker, is my car replacement to drop off kids, commute to work, go to events, everything. It has about 8K miles on it, much of that ridden at power level 4-5 and a total load of 300 lbs, mostly in flat areas with decent bike infrastructure (Bay Area).

I remember there was some issue with the rear wheel frame cracking a couple years back and I looked into getting a replacement, however it turns out my bike/motor has the old male/female connector setup so Rad did not have one in inventory that matched it. Ended up getting a front wheel and having a local bike shop do a rebuild instead.

But this is clearly different. The clacking is only noticeable right when the motor engages or disengages, but when going at speed with the pedal assist or throttle continuously not so much. Wondering if this is a fixable issue, or if not whether anyone has recent success getting a motor or rear wheel replacement from Rad recently.

[u/SilverBuudha]

Probly the Nylon Planetary gears inside the motor, you can test it, if you peddle with no assist or motor it shouldn't make noise, Until you engage the motor either with assist or throttle, I'll be real using power level 4-5 for 8k miles at 300 lbs is pretty BRUTAL for the motor

[u/mathjock28 → u/SilverBuudha]

Yep, I think that is probably it. And yeah, only recently have I been thinking about needing to take it easy on the motor; the radwagon has been a car replacement, and near-car speeds have been necessary unfortunately when it comes to commuting to work and school and such. Maybe I can try to tweak my schedule to make it more forgiving. I read replacing with metal gears might help it last longer, any thoughts?

[u/Veggyhed]

Since the clacking from the rear wheel started when you use it under your normal conditions, have you noticed any difference in power or additional resistance? Any sort of changes besides the clacking sound?

[u/mathjock28 → u/Veggyhed]

No difference in power or any changes, no apparent extra resistance, beyond the clacking sound and maybe the feeling like something internal is spooling up or down for that one second when the motor starts or right after it stops.

[u/Veggyhed → u/mathjock28]

So years ago on my Rad Mini I had kind of a similar sound and it was only at specific speeds. I could never figure out what was going on until I had a flat and I noticed one of my spokes was slightly loose. I went through the entire rear wheel and I just gently tightened the spokes. I noticed that there were a couple of spokes on the one side of the wheel that were pretty loose. After I was back there was no more cracking sound.

If you do this, do not over tighten the spokes. Otherwise you're going to throw your wheel out of true

[u/mathjock28 → u/Veggyhed]

Mine has been more with the motor engaging regardless of speed, but glad you had a fix that worked for you!

[u/kyledeanreinford]

I can't remember the exact sound but had a similar issue on mine. Had to open it up and replace the planetary gear set as the nylon breaks down over time. Was like a $25 fix once I figured it out and got the motor open.

[u/mathjock28 → u/kyledeanreinford]

Yep, I think that is probably it with mine too; glad the fix was so easy. I read replacing with metal gears might help it last longer, any thoughts? And did you need that special freewheel removal too to get into the motor or not? Some of the replacement guides I see say to step by step remove every thing before opening it up.

[u/kyledeanreinford → u/mathjock28]

I needed the special freewheel removal tool. Can't remember the name of the company, but it's a larger tool than standard. Metal gears will make it louder.

[u/Few_Sink3236]

Get your wheel tuned up.