Rear wheel catastropy

In article , Sheldon Brown
writes:

my blather snipped

I think the original problem was the loose right side locknut. If a
right side locknut is loose, the normal rotation of the wheel will
tighten the cone (away from the locknut) locking up the axle. It's
possible that the axle elongated under the stress of the overtightened
cone, and that this is what snapped the skewer.

This certainly fits.

B. Could improperly tightened lock nuts cause this? I spent some time at
it
and I'm pretty sure I locked both sides.

The right side should be seriously tight against the locknut, generally
you want to make your adjustments with the left side. If the left side
is a bit loose, the wheel's rotation will only loosen it a bit more, not
usually a serious problem.

I do use the left side for the adjustments, but if I didn't make the right side
*really* tight it sounds as if it would be all for nought.

C. Any ideas for getting those cones to turn? Cone wrenches are not great
for
high torque applications.

If it's an old-style thread-on freewheel hub, remove the freewheel.
This will give you access to the right cone. Since the right cone
locknut is loose, you can then remove it and put a serious 15 mm open
end wrench on the right cone.

Use a serious 17 mm wrench on the left locknut, and something's gotta
give. You'll either be able to remove the left locknut, or the right
cone will loosen up.

(Your wrench sizes may vary, but the sizes I mentioned are by far the
most common.)

Those are the right ones.

If it's a cassette hub, you won't be able to reach the right cone until
the left side is loose.

I got the cassette off.

Some cones have deep enough flats that you can use a pedal wrench on
them (same 15 mm size.) You can apply a LOT more oomph with a pedal
wrench than with a typical cone wrench.

I wound up slowly spinning the wheel with the axle in the axle vise while
holding one of the cones as best I could with the cone wrench and it finally
loosened.

D. Are my bearings probably toast?

Alas, yes.

Thanks very much for your help, once again, Sheldon.

Sheldon "Ouch!" Brown
+-------------------------------------------+
| I millihelen = the amount of |
| beauty required to launch one ship. |
| --Peter Shickele |
+-------------------------------------------+

Sheldon, are you being a little "troy" here?



Tom Gibb

On 31 Aug 2004 00:37:03 GMT, (TBGibb) wrote:

B. Could improperly tightened lock nuts cause this? I spent some time at it
and I'm pretty sure I locked both sides.

From my experince, that's almost certainly the case.

C. Any ideas for getting those cones to turn? Cone wrenches are not great for
high torque applications.

Undo the left first, take the axle out, and then attack the right (to
tighten the locknut properly this time) with whatever comes to hand
that will get it tight enough. Adjust with the left *only*.

D. Are my bearings probably toast?

Maybe, maybe not. Dismantle and inspect. Good balls are very hard,
but many cones aren't. Use a magnifier to inspect the balls, cones
and cups. Replace anything that's obviously damaged. (Hope that the
cups aren't among the casualties...which they most likely are not.)
Reassemble and check for crunchy/rumble noises.


--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

On 31 Aug 2004 00:37:03 GMT, (TBGibb) wrote:

B. Could improperly tightened lock nuts cause this? I spent some time at it
and I'm pretty sure I locked both sides.

From my experince, that's almost certainly the case.

C. Any ideas for getting those cones to turn? Cone wrenches are not great for
high torque applications.

Undo the left first, take the axle out, and then attack the right (to
tighten the locknut properly this time) with whatever comes to hand
that will get it tight enough. Adjust with the left *only*.

D. Are my bearings probably toast?

Maybe, maybe not. Dismantle and inspect. Good balls are very hard,
but many cones aren't. Use a magnifier to inspect the balls, cones
and cups. Replace anything that's obviously damaged. (Hope that the
cups aren't among the casualties...which they most likely are not.)
Reassemble and check for crunchy/rumble noises.


--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

if the bearings are of good quality, the races will be shot. in this
situation, usually, the balls are slightly harder than the races and
if the ball surfaces are spalling, you can bet the races are ruined.

To preserve hubs then, should one use cheap balls? Balls are cheaper than
races. Have you had problems with the longevity of properly-adjusted hubs?

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

if the bearings are of good quality, the races will be shot. in this
situation, usually, the balls are slightly harder than the races and
if the ball surfaces are spalling, you can bet the races are ruined.

To preserve hubs then, should one use cheap balls? Balls are cheaper than
races. Have you had problems with the longevity of properly-adjusted hubs?

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training