Can I stop my wheel hub working loose?

[swee'pea99]

Well, not mine as such - the one on my daughter's old LeJeune. The (rear) hub just keeps working itself loose - the cone(s) is/are unscrewing slightly, then it starts to wobble. I've found it impossible to stop this happening - I can't reach enough of the cones to get purchase to 'reverse-screw' them back against the locking nuts, so I tighten as best I can, then the whole shebang just loosens itself again. I suspect this is insoluble, but I thought maybe someone might have an idea. Any suggestions much appreciated.

 

[MontyVeda]

maybe you need cone spanners with a lower profile (i.e. thinner), or deeper cones that give you a bit more to get hold of.

 

[swee'pea99]

Thanks. Deeper cones sounds intriguing - I didn't know you could get such things. I don't think thinner cone spanners would help - once the hub's assembled, there's probably less than a mm of cone you can actually get to.

 

[Tim Hall]

IME one side is relatively accessible, whilst the other is almost buried. In such cases I loosen off the accessible side so I can slide the axle out a bit, giving access to the buried side. Tighten the lock nut against the cone on this one really tight, slide it into position then work on the accessible side. Moving the dust cap inboard a tad can also help with getting a cone spanner into position.

 

[swee'pea99]

Thanks for all replies.

[QUOTE 4990490, member: 45"]Why are you trying to tighten the cones when the wheel is on the bike?

I know this is a way of getting them really finely tuned, but setting them up before you put the wheel back on will mean you can get them much tighter.[/QUOTE]

I'm not! I was working on the wheel when it was off the bike. I still couldn't get them properly tight, because I couldn't get to/hold the cones.

IME one side is relatively accessible, whilst the other is almost buried. In such cases I loosen off the accessible side so I can slide the axle out a bit, giving access to the buried side. Tighten the lock nut against the cone on this one really tight, slide it into position then work on the accessible side. Moving the dust cap inboard a tad can also help with getting a cone spanner into position.

Thanks - that sounds definitely worth looking into.

 

[mjr]

I've one old bike with recessed cones. I ended up filing down a very pointy old on-bike toolkit stamped-medal spanner (a few pence from a stack on the LBS counter) until I could get a grip on the cone. It might have had 1.5mm of cone showing rather than 1mm, though.

 

[gbb]

It may be worth a complete strip. I had a similar problem with a solid axle cheap hub and it turned out the threads on the axle were slightly damaged and allowed the cone and or locknut to 'slip' for want of a better word...on the axle a fraction. Result, a hub that kept losing its adjustment.