Tight Axles

[bkwdc]

Same here. Since day one.

[GMP]

How could this happen from assembly without destroying the bearings? Even if they were over torqued, and the spacer collapsed slightly, there would be a lot of axial load across the bearings and bind the wheel. Could the internal spacers too long or cut unevenly?


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[STEVEV]

mine was mushroomed evenly around the diameter on each end. The aluminum is pretty soft.

[GMP]

I know the workers at the Husky factory have a problem reading a torque wrench, just about had to stand on a breaker bar to free the linkage bolts on two of my brother's bikes. GGs seemed OK when torn down, except for the triple clamps.

[rickster2]

Follow-up on my tight axle. Thanks for the input from all. Clearly, my spacer was mushroomed at the ends that contact the inner race of the bearings. I removed the right-side bearing and used a round file to take down the high spots inside of my spacer until my axle passed though the spacer with very little effort. When installed, Tthe axle is supported by the inner race of the bearings and extra play between the axle and the spacer is a non-issue, I believe.

I tried to think of the purpose for spacers within a hub. I'm thinking it adds medial support to the bearing inner race, helps guide the axle to the opposite side bearing inner race during installation, and maybe helps keeps dirt away from the bearing. I've had bikes over the years with loose fitting inner spacers that tilted easily to allow the punch to engage the inner race during bearing removal. For example, YZ 250's seem to have a lot of play in the spacer and it did not bear any load between the inner races of the wheel bearings when installed. Any other thoughts on that?

An easy fix but has to be done with the spacer out of the hub to avoid filing the inner race of the wheel bearings. Of course, the aluminum spacer material cuts very easy compared to the inner race of the bearing so maybe it would not be an issue filing the spacer while installed in the hub. The right side bearing is a standard 6004 double seal bearing, cheap and easy to find, so may as well do it right and remove and replace the bearing when doing this job.

Rick