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I have a DT Swiss style rear thru-axle which undid itself slightly when I was riding the other day. I'm pretty sure it was just a result of me not getting enough torque onto it but as rear thru axles tend to go in from the non-drive side why would they not reverse the thread on these? Surely that would prevent a (not properly tightened) axle coming loose when riding?
When the axle is tightened, the wheel exerts no rotational force on the axle as the inner races of the bearings are clamped between the drop outs. It shouldn't take much force at all to clamp the wheel enough to stop the bearing races turning, unless your bearings are seized.
I suspect that it was vibration that caused the axle to come loose, which would happen with a reverse thread too.
Unlike pedals and BBs there's no cyclic change in direction of the load that creates a precessional force even when properly tightened.
The dt ones just do come loose unless well tightened. And then checked every ride and tightened some more.
Thanks for the replies, and the detailed explanation, pdw. I never take that back wheel off anyway so I wonder if i just change it out for a standard axle, at least I'll know if it's torqued correctly that way.
Was wondering this recently when my pals wheels started to loosen so often that it would need tightened at the top of every climb and the bottom of every decent and occasionally in between. The only thing I could think of was seized bearings.
seized bearings caused my rear axel to slacken. But insulation tape sorted it, for a while. bearings now replaced and much better.
Having spend way too long queuing in the Whistler lift line this summer, I've been amazed by how many people I've seen with RWS style levers pointing downwards.
In my mind that's asking for some kind of contact and potential loosening.
Anyway, lever should be hand tight enough that you can also hand loosen with a bit of concerted effort.
I've a lumberjack pal who's a bit overly keen with his version of hand tight and he's managed to do hub damage as a result.
Yep, my DT rear boost through axle loosens regularly. As above I'm pretty sure it's vibration as it always seems to happen after a particularly rocky day.
The handle on most through axles is too short to get proper load onto the bolt. The size was fine for QR axles with their slimmer shaft, but is too short for through axles. This especially true for axles without a cam to increase tension, It’s why When I buy the DT ones, I buy the ones with a removable handle so I can use a MUCH bigger Allen key.