Whitlock wheel nut

laika

laika

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Probably a stupid question as the answer seems obvious but just checking...

3 years ago I took the wheel off my whitlock pedestal. Before putting it back I wiped the thread to clean it. Since then it keeps coming undone, although fortunately it's never actually fallen off.

Is this normal and do others just put a drop of threadlock on? Can't imagine needing to take the wheel off in a hurry.
 
There are various grades of "Loctite" (or similar thread locking compounds) that you can apply a blob of to the threads before reassembly. Most of them soften at about 120 degrees C if you ever want to take it apart again. A heat gun should manage this but if the surrounding material is painted or powder coated it might discolour or be damaged. Can you gst a new nut with a "Nyloc" insert or put a locking washer under the existing nut?
 
The nut is partly decorative (big rubber dome-nut type thing) so replacing it might be overkill. PTFE is a good idea (and I have some handy) but in the absence of any reason not to I'll go with the loctite "removable" threadlock I already have. Just thought this might be a common problem given how standard those whitlock pedestals are with an associated standard solution.
 
My vote goes to the threadlock goop. The leverage you have from holding the wheel, versus the torque from judicious application of a (large) Cornish Micrometer (read: "Shifting-spanner" or even "Stilson-wrench" for vernier accuracy), will together overcome the shear strength of most locking glues. The 150Nm of torque you can easily apply to the rim of your wheel will hold translates to something like 300 kg of shear-strength on a 10mm thread!
 
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I'm not sure why the nut is coming loose.

I have Whitlock Cobra steering and the wheel is held quite firmly by the combination of the taper and key. The nut is only ever done up by hand on a greased thread and if I ever take the wheel off then the nut is still tight. If the taper and key are good then the nut should only need to be hand tight to stop the wheel working loose. There should be no rotation imparted by the wheel to the nut to loosen it.
 
skipper_stu said:
PTFE is very "slippery" if anything it will exarcebate the prob. Go with some Loctite?
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PTFE yes but PTFE tape which RAI mentions is the stuff we wrap round threads to seal them better. It's a good suggestion which I might go with although I'm *slightly* more inclined to go with my locktite "removable" threadlock.

Quite surprised that I'm the only one who seems to have this problem. I do the nut up pretty tight but it always works loose after a week or so...
 
Have you checked that the wheel is sitting on the taper shaft correctly i.e. no dirt on the taper, or the that the key is correctly sized and not stopping the female boss seating on the male shaft. A key that is only slightly oversize will stop it seating properly and then allow the nut to come loose over time.
 
laika said:
PTFE yes but PTFE tape which RAI mentions is the stuff we wrap round threads to seal them better. It's a good suggestion which I might go with although I'm *slightly* more inclined to go with my locktite "removable" threadlock.

Quite surprised that I'm the only one who seems to have this problem. I do the nut up pretty tight but it always works loose after a week or so...
Click to expand...

PTFe tape is made for sealing pipe joints, it is malleable, fills the threads etc, it is also highly slippy. It is not made for locking threads! Why use a product that is not designed to do a job when Loctite is easily obtainable, cheap, and most important is designed to lock threads! Duh!
S
 
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