Grrr, no axle nuts at Home Despot!
 

So a few weeks ago I dropped an axle nut in the garage, it rolled under the freezer, and apparently into a wormhole, because it is GONE. I cleaned up all the junk around the freezer, moved the freezer out to look behind, leaned the freezer back 30deg to probe the underbits, that nut is nowhere to be found. "I'll just go to Home Depot and get another nut" I thought, "that'll be quicker than emptying out the whole garage and scanning with a metal detector".

Silly me.

Attempt #1 I brought the matching nut to Home Depot and try to match it to a bolt on the sample board. Nothing quite matches. I vaguely remember something about M10, so I come home with an M10x1, but it doesn't work.

Then I do a little research on BF and determine it's most likely a 3/8-26tpi. Back to HD, I search and search, everything 3/8 seems to be 16tpi, finally in the specialty cabinet I find 3/8x24tpi ("fine"). There's a 3/8-24 on the sample board as well, I can screw my one nut pretty much the depth of the nut before it starts to bind, I buy three washers just in case (and because the nut is not flanged) and hope for the best.

Back at home, (a) the axle is long enough I'll need more than three washers to fill the gap up to where the nut reaches the binding point, and (b) the washers don't fit inside the lawyer lips anyways.

GRRR!!!

I get that bikes are trapped in an ancient industry standard with this 3/8-26 axle threading. So if that's so universal and well-established, why doesn't Home Depot have one little slot reserved in its specialty bolt drawers for "3/8-26tpi flanged nut (bicycle axle)"? They could charge 50c or 99c instead of 12c like all the other bolts in the drawer.

So today is my weekly driving day, I'll be going way out of my way tonight to get to a bike shop and buy one axle nut. (I realize it's not that ridiculously farther than Home Depot, probably only twice as far, but Home Depot is right next to Costco, so it's a lot more convenient to combine a trip)

I thought about bringing my 14-15 combo wrench into walmart and just taking a bolt off a BSO on the floor, but my conscience wouldn't let me do that to some poor kid who would end up with that bike.

I'm not surprised you have to go to an LBS shop for bicycle related items. :) I'm amazed you were even able to find an M10x1.0 nut at a big box home store. BTW, I would not use that 3/8x24 tpi nut even if it doesn't bind right away. It will damage the axle threads and stands a good chance of spontaneously loosening in use. Those oversize washers probably saved you a lot of problems.

BTW, lots of specialty activities use proprietary threading. Scope sight mounts for most firearms use #6x48 tpi or #8x40 tpi bolts and these are available only from gun shops and gunsmithing suppliers.

Buy two and put the extra in your bike bag as a spare; I rarely buy just one of anything, especially something that only costs a dollar or so.

Auto parts? , wont be flanged nut, though, just a 10X1 nut.


Front? 9x1mm (unless it's Not)

Well, I'm not surprised that HD doesn't carry derailleurs or quick-release skewers, but I bet I could find ball bearings for bottom brackets, cup&cone wheels, or headsets, M4-5-6 bolts aplenty for water bottle cages, threadless stems, pinch bolts, brakes etc,

Yes, good idea, I will get two. I'll put the shiny new pair on the bike so they match, and keep the grungy old one in my "Tin Of Small Parts" (a random collection of ball bearings, ferrules, cable crimps, bolts, etc)

Was this a nut for a coaster brake or 3-speed hub? Or regular hub?

=8-)

Why would you expect to find axle nuts at Home Depot? Do you go to AutoZone for lumber and levels?

Bicycle axles use a relatively rare thread (actually a few relatively rare threads), so a bike shop is the logical place to buy.

This is a relevant question as a lot of single speed coaster brake hubs use 3/8 x 24 threading. That one you can find at the hardware store.

True, and so far so good, but others use 3/8x26, and some use 10x1. If the OP brings the axle to a hardware store they can match the thread. OTOH, there's a real chance they won't have it so he could save a possible 2nd trip by going to a bike shop in the first place.

" keep the grungy old one in my "Tin Of Small Parts""

That won't do you much good if you lose a nut when you are fixing a tire on the road. You have already demonstrated that they are lose-able. Best to keep it with the bike.

I did go to AutoZone for the hose clamps that hold my flashlight on my handlebars, and I might go there for all-purpose lube/grease as well. I have bought plenty of knurled M5 cap bolts at Home Depot, and I would expect to find ball bearings as well if I needed them.

There are a lot of bicycles axles out there, so the thread is not ridiculously rare.

And the other reason I turned first to Home Depot is because it is in the same parking lot as Costco, where I find myself often anyways, so no extra trip. I am somehow living in a LBS-free zone, as the only bike shop in the town of Poway closed this year, and the nearest bike shop is now off in a direction I never go. Maybe I'm spoiled by more biking lately, but I just really loathe the idea of a car ride all the way out there just for a nut. It is close enough to bike (7mi each way) but I don't have the time for a ride this week and my son needs his bike working by 7am Sat morning.

"regular" hub on a 24" front wheel on a Haro mtb.

Rare might have been a poor choice or words. Non-standard, or unique application might be more appropriate. I understand your frustration at having to search, but you can't blame or complain about Home Depot (Despot) not having every piece of hardware for every thing in the world.

For some things you have to go further out of your way.

Be glad you're in San Diego (area) looking for bike parts. We live (part-time) in Cozumel, MX (an island) and most appliances are US branded, but made in places like Germany (eg. Whirlpool). To make matters worse, sometimes the versions sold in MX are different than those sold in the USA, so getting the right parts is an exercise in Global search and logistics.

...it turns out the most Home Depot stores of some size now have a rather large
assortment of metric fasteners in a separate cabinet of slideout drawers.

I was amazed when I first discovered it, and have found a great many machine
screws and nuts that are usable on my more modern metric standard bicycles.

They generally go from about an M4 to M10 in sizes, FWIW. Not all threadings
are represented, but the common ones are.

As you might suspect, it often requires some digging, and a lot of the stuff
has been rearranged into the wrong place. Still worth the trip.

Blast, tasked a buddy of mine to find a replacement for a beach cruiser I'm working on.

Guess I owe the LBS another visit.

M.

I know metric nuts and bolts are readily available in many hardware and big box home centers but usually in common threading like M5x.8 or M8x1.25. Specialty items like M8x1.0 or M10 x1.0 are not nearly as common. Even in SAE sizes. truly odd threading like 3/8 x 26 tpi or #6x48 require a specialty fastener shop or a dealer in your particular hobby.

Find your self an honest to goodness Hardware store, most likely an ACE or TrueValue, there you will have a much better chance of finding what you need. If your lucky it they will even have it in stainless steel.

Even good local or chain hardware stores will have only the most common diameters and thread pitches in stock. You need a specialty shop like Fastenal or Grainger to get truly odd types.

Nope. No ball bearings at the home depot.

At my old house the closest hardware store was an Ace, and I liked to go there before HD when possible, but the Ace that used to be in Poway closed long ago.

Surprising! But good to know.

Ditto on the Ace Hardware recommendation. They have an impressive assortment of fasteners and spacers/washers/thingamajiggies in steel, stainless, and even aluminum and plastic. Going to the big stores for fasteners has always been an exercise in frustration for me. They're good for the big stuff, but I find the local Ace much better for the smaller stuff. Just my .02.

Yes

I work at a shop that sells and repairs bikes and we get everything from high end road bikes to Wal-Mart specials. All the bikes I see with nuts on the axles have 3/8x26 on the rear, regardless of whether they are single speed or multi-speed internal and 3/8x24 nuts on the front axles. It's just a fact of life that some things on bicycles have to be weird especially when although they're 3/8 inch fasteners you use a 15mm wrench. And another thing that amuses me is when my co-workers tell customers that presta valves are superior to schrader valves even though presta valves are on nothing else in the universe but bicycle tires. $100,000 cars and $200,000,000 airliners use good old schrader valves. And aircraft use schrader valves not only one the tires but the landing gear struts which can be subject to thousands of pounds of pressure.