Should the locking cap be vigorously pounded tight?
The last issue (Number 51) of The Vintage Triumph (VTR's Quarterly) has an
article entirely dedicated to this issue, and it essentially disagrees with
this approach. (Note: the article is a reprint from a 1981 issue,
originally submitted by Bill Sohl.) The analysis puts forth the theory of
"the outer taper of the wheel center *rolling around* the inside of the
slightly larger taper of the cap, again, with the cap loosely fitted (!)"
--- the effect being to eventually tighten everything up properly.
George DeVeau writes >
>>Can the wheel hub expand
>>if the knock-offs are tightened too much?
>
and Phil Ethier responds:
>I believe it is not possible to tighten them too much.
More quotes from the article:
"The effect of over-tightening? ...the wheel is held in place between two
pairs of tapers and does not touch the brake drum. Excessive tightening of
the locking cap will therefore force the wheel centre farther on to the
back taper of the hub, expanding it and thus making it eventually, a sloppy
fit on the hub. The outer taper tends to be compressed and the locking cap
itself will actually expand to a small extent; this may cause the locking
cap to contact the outer spokes or 'bottom-out' on the hub, in either case
preventing proper tightening. ... A sloppy wheel centre soon starts to
fret on the hub... eventually the whole assembly ... is fit for the scrap
yard."
The article goes into much more detail and explains the theory with great
care. It's too long to send to the list, but perhaps if it were already on
electronic media (Bill?) it could be downloaded to hoosier.
Lee M. Daniels - Laboratory for Molecular Structure and Bonding - Texas A&M
daniels@lmsbvx.tamu.edu | DANIELS@TAMLMSB.BITNET | (409) 845-3726
"Naughty, you can reform, but stupid is forever" -Andy Capp
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