One up maintenance and lubrication
I've had my 1up for about 6 months now. This is a long thread and I read the whole thread before I purchased the rack. I have been completely satisfied with the rack, well worth the investment.
Last couple of rides the wheel arms were making a squeal when opening and closing and it was getting difficult to open and close them, so I decided it was time for some maintenance. I believe this may have been covered previously in the thread, but at 95 pages and increasing, I thought it wouldn't hurt to post another. I have attached two photos labeling what I call the ratchet strut, ratchet lever, and wheel arm. I checked 1up's website and couldn't find any FAQs about maintenance. If I missed it, someone please post a link.
Bushing A in the picture is designed to bottom out before getting too tight. I loosened it to see if that fixed my problem, it sort of did, so I tightened it back down and then hit it with a spray of Tri-Flow and the wheel arms starting moving a little better. I also had to spray some Tri-Flow on both ends of bushing B. Now the wheel arm opens and closes super smooth, just like new. No problems closing the wheel arm tight against the tire.
I think the issue is when bushing A starts to stick, the ratchet strut won't pivot freely when opening the wheel arm and ends up forcing the ratchet lever from parallel with the wheel tray. The ratchet mechanism then "digs in" making it difficult to open the wheel arm, there is not enough mechanical advantage with the ratchet lever for your fingers to easily overcome the ratchet strut friction. When closing the wheel arm, the ratchet strut forces the ratchet mechanism to "dig in" in the other direction, the ratchet spring isn't strong enough to overcome the friction in bushing A, making it difficult to fully close the wheel arm against the tire.
In the second picture I show how I hold the ratchet lever parallel to the wheel tray when opening the wheel arm. The picture is a little tilted, but the lever is parallel to the wheel tray. I usually have my gloves on and put the ends of a couple of fingers under the wheel tray as a guide and then use the other fingers to lift the ratchet lever. When bushing A started sticking, I had to start holding the ratchet lever knob and keep fiddling with the ratchet lever as I opened the wheel arm. With the friction gone, I just let my hand slide along the bottom of the tray, keeping the lever parallel.
I don't think the Tri-Flow will harm the bushings. There may be better lubricants, but Tri-Flow was what I had hanging around and seemed to work well in this application. WD-40 may work, but WD-40 is more of a temporary lubricant and I wanted to go with something a little more permanent.
