I am not wary about posting on this forum, I would like to only post on one. I had already posted on COG so I figured why do it twice. Most of us read both.

I don't.  I have enough to keep up with here.

Yeah, and if you did it the other way, post here, link there.... well let's just say it might get loud.... :-)

Yup, you do not need to cut the tool if you don't loosen both. But how did you tighten the axle to nearly 100 ft. lbs. without two hex drives of some type? The 'leave the nut tight' trick only works if the axle had been up to correct torque and the pinch bolts left alone. Otherwise if you clamp the nut before you tighten the axle, you cannot know the flanges of the nut are bearing on the recess in the fork. The idea is to put the axle, inner wheel bearing races, and all spacers and spacer tubes under great tensile force to make them behave as a single unit.

Brian

I am not wary about posting on this forum, I would like to only post on one. I had already posted on COG so I figured why do it twice. Most of us read both.

Yes, I have the multi-tool. I think you figured out what I was talking about. I really like the solution that the tech gave me about leaving the nut in place.
I don’t like the idea of cutting of my tools to serve one purpose, but that definitely would of done the trick.



Thanks for all the input. Have ya caught up with all of this yet Chet? 

But how did you tighten the axle to nearly 100 ft. lbs. without two hex drives of some type? The 'leave the nut tight' trick only works if the axle had been up to correct torque and the pinch bolts left alone. Otherwise if you clamp the nut before you tighten the axle, you cannot know the flanges of the nut are bearing on the recess in the fork. The idea is to put the axle, inner wheel bearing races, and all spacers and spacer tubes under great tensile force to make them behave as a single unit.

Brian

I am not sure if I had everything to spec. I think all is good now that I took it back to the shop and had them put a new tire on. Read post #8

Live and learn, next time will be a piece of cake.

Yup, you do not need to cut the tool if you don't loosen both. But how did you tighten the axle to nearly 100 ft. lbs. without two hex drives of some type? The 'leave the nut tight' trick only works if the axle had been up to correct torque and the pinch bolts left alone. Otherwise if you clamp the nut before you tighten the axle, you cannot know the flanges of the nut are bearing on the recess in the fork. The idea is to put the axle, inner wheel bearing races, and all spacers and spacer tubes under great tensile force to make them behave as a single unit.

Brian

Heya Brian,

This is interesting. Do you always use two hex drivers to tighten front axles? To be honest, I don't think it ever occurred to me to do so.

I always remove the nut and the axle to remove the front wheel. To re-install, I put the axle and nut back in, and tighten a bit more than hand tight. I then go to the right hand side, and give the axle a couple good smacks with my rubber mallet to make sure the axle shoulder is seated in the fork leg, then tighten to the two clamp screws by hand. Then I torque the axle nut on the left hand side, then tighten the two left side clamp screws.

I'll have to try the old dual hex way sometime and see if I can manage it by myself...lol.

PS: Here's my main hex tool...it's a 3/4" drive with a 1/2" adapter in it for my breaker bar and torque wrench.

I only use two tools and drivers when I have taken the axle nut out of the bottom of the fork, which is pretty rare. Normally, I just loosen the pinch bolts on the right side of the bike, unscrew and remove the axle to remove the wheel.

It is pretty easy to use the two tool at the same time though- one can be a torque wrench if you want to hit the correct amount of torque, and the other works best when it is a breaker bar because they are long. Just grab both tools and force them in opposite directions until the torque wrench clicks. Then tighten all four (two on each side) of the pinch bolts and you are done. By the way, there is a procedure for bouncing the bike against the front wheel using the front brake before the pinch bolts are tightened; this is supposed to 'seat' the axle although I am a but dubious that it can work with the axle having thousands and thousands of pounds of force against both fork flanges. ??

Brian

Heya Brian,

This is interesting. Do you always use two hex drivers to tighten front axles? To be honest, I don't think it ever occurred to me to do so.

I always remove the nut and the axle to remove the front wheel. To re-install, I put the axle and nut back in, and tighten a bit more than hand tight. I then go to the right hand side, and give the axle a couple good smacks with my rubber mallet to make sure the axle shoulder is seated in the fork leg, then tighten to the two clamp screws by hand. Then I torque the axle nut on the left hand side, then tighten the two left side clamp screws.

I'll have to try the old dual hex way sometime and see if I can manage it by myself...lol.

PS: Here's my main hex tool...it's a 3/4" drive with a 1/2" adapter in it for my breaker bar and torque wrench.