It's time for a new rear tire, so I went to remove the rear wheel.  Thought I knew how, went and fiddled for about 15-30 minutes, couldn't get the axle out, came back to the computer to look up how, discovered I was right, went back, after anotehr 15 mintues or so I finally managed to get the damn axle to come out and all went smooth from there... Is it supposed to be so F-ing hard to get the axle to slide out?  I really had to pull hard to get that thing to move.

How I did it was I removed the not  washer and alighnment marker from the left side of the bike,  Held the tire up with one foot underneath it and one hand(left) holding it up, and pulled the axle out with the right hand.  But it really didn't want to move.  I'm not looking forward to putting it back on...

Thanks,
-Rael

The axle is good and tight in there, epically if it hasn't been removed in a while. I use a rubber mallet to whack it loose.

Lube the axle when you put it back in.

When I put on and take off a wheel, I sit down and hold it up in place with my legs.

Alright, I won't worry about it.  Any recomendations on the lube for it?  Or just any kind of waterproof grease?

Any grease will work.

Since the axle does not spin (better not) within the bearing races, and since you want the "lube" to last until the next change, I recommend that you clean the axle with a ScotchBrite pad and then wax it with paste auto wax.  Works well for me.  I also rap such axles with a rubber or leather mallet and even at that I do so with the nut loosely attached to further protect that first thread.

prs