[dovbush66]

Anyone ever get issues with hub play with 40s? I'm looking to make sure if its because my axle is worn.

I have had this issue ages ago but tightening the axle harder got rid of it. Now after cleaning everything and getting the axle as tight as I could it still has play - It's tiny knock when on the brakes and moving the front wheel, enough to fuck up lines when riding

Never had play issues with my boxxer, so I'm immediately thinking the 40 axle is at fault but you never know

Hub is an old as shit Cove hub It's got an internal axle that the two end caps press on to. The end caps don't press on tight at all, you can pop them off by hand. The bearings are fresh and that internal axle has no play. The caps being looser than other hubs is what makes me suspect it.

40 axle has a bit of wear - the anodising is mostly gone from the floating side and the spot where it touches hub end caps is light blue, so probably worn the black layer out. Is anodising wear enough to throw it all off tolerance?

 

[dovbush66]

that's the state of my axle there.. gonna just bite it and get a new one since this one has a fucked hex anyway.

The worn parts are smaller in dia. and there is a difference when measuring with a vernier. Fingers crossed a new one fixes that tiny bit of annoying play. The play amount changes depending on I rotate the wheel which matches the wear spots on the axle.

Amazed how much of a ripoff these things are.

 

[englertracing]

those grooves are from running shit bearings it was easier for the bearing to turn on the axle then it was for the bearing to turn

 

[Flo33]

I've never seen anything like that. I own a 2006 36 with the original 20 mm axle that I rode a lot. The axle looks pretty mint. Will post a pic later. I sense a Layer 8 error.

 

[dovbush66]

those grooves are from running shit bearings it was easier for the bearing to turn on the axle then it was for the bearing to turn

I've never seen anything like that. I own a 2006 36 with the original 20 mm axle that I rode a lot. The axle looks pretty mint. Will post a pic later. I sense a Layer 8 error.

Yeah it surprised me too when i got the fork but never paid much mind to it. My 08 boxxer maxle is also mint after multiple owners.

damage might have come from ripping it out while siezed and pinch bolted in to a fuckered hub.

always fun to add to the second hands parts gore pile

 

[canadmos]

All of my fox axles have looked like that after a while (except for the fat end). Usually with Hope Hubs in there. None have ever developed play, though.

 

[englertracing]

I just noticed the ends holy shit.
Loose pinch bolts?
Rough ass bore job on the lowers
Stupidly putting tacky grease and dgaffing the dirt it collects on install and removal...

 

[Udi]

Axle looks rough but I doubt it's the cause of play.
Like canadmos said, fox axles can look like that after a while (in the middle at least, the ends and threads just look beat up), I've seen similar ones but still without play.

You can rock the axle with it installed+clamped in the fork alone to see if there is play where it clamps, highly unlikely since the whole benefit of pinchbolted interfaces is that they can take up tolerance variations and variations due to wear.

I'd suspect the hub. Try a different (good) hub/wheel, even a borrowed one.

 

[Sandwich]

I feel like I remember these issues back when I had an azonic wheel in there, which has the same three piece axle system. I agree with udi, try it with a different hub, then double check your rotor bolts and spoke tension. My rotors often move like half a mm which translates to quite a bit of movement at the wheel, but I'm never moving backwards on the bike so it's not a problem in reality. spoke tension on my azonics were also shit, so tightening them up really helped.

 

[dovbush66]

Thanks lads, ill borrow another hub for sure.

Never considered rotor play actually, i'll chase the threads to clear up the old loctite and bolt it down better, might even helicoil any dodgy threads.

 

[dovbush66]

new axle arrived - everything fits better but the play is due to the hub in the end.

Sandwich is bang on- my hub looks like an azonic and googling about they commonly have issues with a tiny knock or amount of play.

to give some closure I fixed my issues with bearing retainer compound on the hub. There is not a lot of material contacting between the internal axle and end cap so it's pretty easy to get it all loose.
Got a new wheel built anyway with a better hub and rim.