CheGiantForLife

I have a video but new acct can't post a URL.
Can someone please re-post it for me?
streamable dot com/tw5vzh

In the video, I removed the wheel.
I removed that fastening tightner lever arm.
All that was left was this spindle thingy.
It was loose, so I hand tightened it.
Wobble is gone!

What is this part called?
It does not look like cup/cone that I see in Youtube videos.

DiabloScott

Yeah, I think it's your cones, although your axle might be broken too.
https://streamable.com/tw5vzh

CheGiantForLife

Are cones known to come loose?
Periodic maintenance item?

fietsbob

If they & the lock nut on the end were not properly tightened to not come loose..

DiabloScott

Not impossible, but more likely somebody did "maintenance" already and didn't put it back together right.

Iride01 

for knowing how to obfuscate the URL and not let the spam filters win. Shows you have some initiative, or what folks before my time called "gumption".

CheGiantForLife

I've owned the bike since new for the last 20 years, and have never had it serviced.

bikebikebike

Agree with Diablo. May just need cones adjusted, but basic axle/hub bearing repair are not antything huge or magic to fix.
After 20 yrs a bit of grease in the hubs may be in order anyway.
Youtube's on the process abound

WizardOfBoz

I think it probably is a broken or worn cone, or the balls got worn/destroyed. Possibly a broken axle. Easily diagnosed by your LBS. Or, take your wheel off, take out the quick release. If you can pull both ends of the axle out and you can turn both ends of the axle in different directions, the axle is broken. If both ends of the axle are obviously connected, you've got a choice. Take the think to an LBS to check out. They may suggest cleaning the hub and changing the cones and balls, if the bearing cups in the hub are ok. If the cups in the hub are broken, rough, over-worn, you may get the suggestion of a new wheel. You COULD have a new hub put in, but that might cost more than the new wheel.

Or you could disassemble, clean, and inspect the wheel cups. If they're good, replace cones and balls yourself.

Me? I'd probably say that getting a bike cleaned, lubed, adjusted, and rejuvenated every 20 years is probably not too much to ask. So I'd make sure that the wheel was fixed, but I'd have them look at the other wheel, the bottom bracket, the headset, and replace cables and brake pads. If it costs you 150 bucks, you're paying $7.50 a year for maintenance.

CheGiantForLife

I lied.
I have done a few maintenance items over the years.
I like to do repairs on all my cars, so I have lots of tools and stuff.
I lubed the chain with grease a few years ago.
I also tightened the front hand brake to bite quickly.

I don't ride the bike much ever that is why.
But, I think it would be fun to learn the basic tune up items on a bike
Stuff like adjust brakes and whatever else.

CheGiantForLife

Not going to take it to LBS.
Don't ride it enough to bother.
Bike works perfectly fine, as of now.

The axle is not broken then.
I was able to twist the cones in opposite directions and get them to tighten back up.

Bill Kapaun

IF it was fine for years and then this was kind of a "sudden onslaught", I'd suspect the parts are toast.
Pitted balls grinding into pitted cones.
If extremely sudden, I'd suspect a broken axle. That'll be obvious if you remove the wheel. You'll have 2 pieces and twenty 3/16" Bearing Balls scattered about.
If so, you may get by replacing just the axle. New balls are cheap.

DiabloScott

If it spins smoothly and doesn't wobble and doesn't fall out of your fork... that's probably good enough.
Front hub maintenance is pretty satisfying stuff though, if you're looking for new skills to learn.

Bill Kapaun

IF you didn't tighten the lock nuts, expect the same thing to happen.
Fronts are so easy to service, but I guess ignorance is bliss until it bites you.

79pmooney

Question - do you care about this bike and its parts or are you OK with running them into the ground?

If you care - take off the wheels, clean up (gently, no solvents or soap) around the axle, dustcaps, locknuts and cones. Back off one locknut. Do the same with the cone and the wheel lying on its other side with the axle end on you workbench (to keep the other cone and bearings firmly in place). Now look at the cone you just pulled out, Is it in good shape (nice smooth, machined race surface)? Is the grease clean and plentiful? Or dirty and gunky? Or just barely there? If the first, reassemble and adjust the cones, then tighten the locknuts against the cones, (This will take at least one cone wrench, probably 13mm. If you have none, get (2) 13-14s and (2) 15-16s (for the rear hub - it will need whatever the front needs only probably more so), a 17, and an open end wrench or descent crescent wrench.

Go to a video of cone adjustment or come back here.

With sufficient servicing, cup and cone bearings can go a long time but you can also kill them quickly riding them with little or dirty grease.

Ben

CheGiantForLife

Yes, I am interested in learning basic bike maintenance. I have tons of tools, including a full set of thin wrenches for sway bar end links..

I'm not sure how to remove the cone. I just hand tightened them. Do I just spin in the opposite direction to loosen and remove them?
Not one video on Youtube looks like my cones. I don't see a lock nut. Can you look at the very end of my video and tell me if that star thing is the lock nut?

Bill Kapaun

The lock nut is typically a thin, 17mm (wrench) nut.
Cone flats are typically 13-16mm (wrench) depending on hub brand/model/position.
You have a Joy tech hub, but this Shimano pdf should be "enough similar".
EDIT- Change attachment
You may not have part #7 and only 10 3/16" balls/side.

70sSanO

Need to change search engines.

Then again, it’s not like your life is depending on your work at 80mph.

John

Bill Kapaun

Not real hard though.
I clearly see a lock nut. Why didn't you read post#17?
Have you even removed the rubber dust covers and removed the cones so you know what they look like?
There's NOT that many parts and each side is the same.

WizardOfBoz

So this indicates that the locknut is not tight against the the cone on one side, at least. Possible a broken locknut. Which means that, unless you properly preloaded the ball and used a cone wrench to hold the cone while tightening the locknut (and replaced the locknut), you'll probably have the cone loose again. Your attitude seems rather contemptuous of putting any maintenance into the thing, and if you keep the cone relatively tight, it's not going to cause a big problem.

I will stand behind my recommendation that, after 20 years of no service, it would be wise to invest in at least replacing the brake cables. If not not shifting cables, a wheel true, and brake pads, with a check of the BB and headset bearings. But if you don't ride this much (and don't ride it on a route that's far away from help), hey, its your bike.

CheGiantForLife

Ok, I am going to take this apart.

The thing I tightened was the rubber seal #2 .
That is not the cone proper, even though its cone shaped.

Does the serrated side of the lock nut face inside or outside?

dabac

serrated side faces OUT, to better bite into the inside face of the dropout.

CheGiantForLife

Turns out, the part I was twisting to hand tighten the lock nut was just a cone shaped rubber seal, but not the “cone”

• First I removed the quick release (#1)
• I removed the rubber seal (#2),
• This exposed the lock nut.(#4) This was the part that was loose. I removed the lock nut.
• I then removed and inspected the cone. (#5) This is what sits on the ball bearings. My cone was smooth and not damaged.
• I then removed the hub axle (#8) to expose the ball bearings.
• 20 year old grease seems fine, and was not dry at all. Still, I jammed some new Lithium grease onto the ball bearings
• Hand tightened the cone against the ball bearings. Tightened the lock nut against the cone with 2 counter-wrenches
  13mm thin wrench was required to hole the cone. 17mm was for the lock nut. 13mm got stuck onto the cone slots. Annoying.

I then adjusted the brakes b/c they were rubbing.
Just let some slack out in the brake cable using allen key.
Next, I would like to learn the correct way to adjust brake cables.

Big thanks to everyone who replied, esp for the directions and diagram PDF.
Bill Kapaun WizardOfBoz 79pmooney

Bill Kapaun

You realize that when you tighten the QR, the bearings will tighten up some.
You have to allow a tiny bit of "slop" to compensate. It'll take a few tries to get it right, but that's just "learning". Time well spent.
One Hint- JAM one lock nut much tighter than the other. When you service the axle next time, you keep the exposed thread portion on that side where it was. You don't have to mess around adjusting both lock nut/cones trying to center the axle again. Center it ONCE and then just pull the entire axle at once w/ 1 cone as an assembly next service time.

I wipe off the old grease. Back in the early-mid 60's, cars had extended lube intervals in a semi-sealed joint. Mixing with a different formulation could result in it liquifying.

Lots of repair tips here-
https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help

CheGiantForLife

I never tried to center the axle.
I think I only took apart one side.
The other side lock not was dead tight against the cone.

I have no idea about how tight to make the cone.
Are you saying it should be loose against the bearings?
Wheel seems to roll fine, so I am sure it's close enough.
Or, I just don't go nuts with the QR tightness, and let it be a bit loose