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Bit of a silly question I suppose but after fighting trying to loosen a 4 month / 3 ride old rear axle, I'm pondering what is the best way to ensure it doesn't happen again.
Bike is a NS Snabb plus and the rear axle is just a simple alloy threaded hex headed bolt. It was lightly greased and threaded into the frame (also alloy) quite tightly as I don't want it coming loose.
However when coming to take the wheel out last night, the damn thing was so tight that it took a 2 foot bar to break the stiction. Went with a loud crack and the smell of engineered metal.
Is there a certain lubricant to use when assembling such things as I don't want it to happen again.
Will use the torque wrench when assembling again tonight but thought I'd ask, in case I'm missing something glaringly obvious.
Could try some anti-seize/coppaslip rather than just normal grease.
I love that smell when you crack a stiff one!
Grease (silkolene rg2) and 10Nm for me, and never had the issue you describe.
Why was it stuck ?
Lightly grease the shaft and hole (oooer) and torque it correctly.
Was is stuck due to corrosion, or over tightening ?
Don’t over tighten it - use the correct torque - it won’t come lose. And loosen and retighten every 2 or 3 months. There’s no need for a ‘farmers nip’ here!!
My Banshees rear axle comes with 10nm stamped on it. It's not anywhere near as tight as you think it is.
1kg at 1m, definitely not a lot!
You need this https://www.dtswiss.com/en/products/hubs-rws/rws/12-mm/ far less hassle.
You're probably not over tightening it. Like those silly rockshox-made-of-spreadable-cheese-hex-head-maxle things they can tighten up under usage. Having tightened one of those to 4Nm, ridden for a few hours then had the same wrench breaking away at 20 trying to undo it i more put a dab of locktite on rather than grease, counter intuitive but seems to work.
Cheers all. Not sure why it was so difficult to remove but it is back in with different grease and not quite so tight.
Not in a particuar hurry to take it off again now as there is no need but will try loctite with lower torque if it is a problem next time.
Bigger issue now is the damn bike squeaks and groans under slight load. Bit irrational in comparison to some of the noises you hear on the trails, but annoys me immensly.
Every bolt and linkage point is tight with grease (where needed) and no play. Suspect it is either the reverb or headset , both are relatively easy to isolate / check so that's the next job.
One of my older bike still has quick release.
The newer bikes thru axles front and back. And those bikes are stiffer and I can go faster downhill on rough trails.
But:
Fear also the problems the PO describes. When I have to repair a tube somewhere in muddy conditions the axle can't be kept as clean as when doing such a job at home. Was with quick release never a problem. Now you have a greased thru axle, lots of dirt (mud, winter?) and tight tolerances...a recipe for trouble!
I take the axles out every couple month, clean and re-grease them. Not a perfect design yet.
Quick release wasn't as stiff but less hassle?
When I have to repair a tube somewhere in muddy conditions the axle can’t be kept as clean as when doing such a job at home
Utter rubbish if ever I've heard it, put it in your pocket, pack or on top of your glove if you're that worried about a bit of mud.
Or straight back in the bike once the wheel is out?!
@steve_b77:
good to have such "experts" around. Guess you never biked in deep mud.
Taking the axle out: already then you have dirt on the grease. Putting it back: danger of seizing...
Difficult to understand I have to admit.
Ah - biking in mud is something we never experience in the UK.
It was lightly greased and threaded into the frame (also alloy) quite tightly
how tightly? they have a recommended torque value for a reason, in fact two reasons, 1) so it doesn't snap 2) so you don't need a 2 ft bar to remove it.
maybe look into buying a accurate torque wrench?
good to have such “experts” around. Guess you never biked in deep mud.
Once or twice 😉
...and not once do I ever remember wishing to go back to skewer QRs. My last three bikes have all had DT Swiss RWS and I've never had any issues with them seizing, coming loose or any issues with dirt ingress. If I ever have the wheel out on the trail, I just stick the axle down somewhere that isn't entirely filthy and don't worry about it overly. I have a light smear of grease on the threads, but otherwise don't think about them very much.
Remember the days of wheels slipping in the dropouts under heavy braking, or being mis-aligned with the brakes because you'd been rushing to install them in a workstand and hadn't taken the time to precisely align the wheel in the dropouts? Fortunately, these are now reserved for the road bike because bolt-through axles solved these problems as well as being mechanically superior and easier to use and are now present on virtually all mountain bikes sold today.
Sounds like your axle cold welded itself to the hanger. Not enough grease to cover all the bare alloy threads?
I had a rather expensive alloy water rail on a kit car, it had an alloy threaded take off elbow and I put it loosley in by a couple of turns for safe keeping before ready to install.. welded itself in place and I had to send it to the machine shop to remove it.