Hitchcocks Forum

Hi all, took the front wheel off the other day to change the speedo drive and noticed some of the threads on the front wheel spindle(brake side) are damaged, I managed to get the nut to re-thread so I could put it back together, all I want to know is, until I get a chance to buy a new spindle and fit it, is it still safe to ride the bike? Or could there be a potential disaster like the front wheel locking up or similar??

Providing you can tighten the nut properly, it should be alright until the new part arrives. My experience with this type of situation is it`s very difficult to undo the nut again later because of the nut being forced onto burred threads effectively locking it on.

Engineering rule, you only need four turns of thread to achieve maximum mechanical strength, the rest of the threads are redundancy against damage such as you have.

Ideally one might run a die box onto it but they're expensive, the wire brush and run a nut on and off it a few times should correct it enough until a new spindle appears.

Spend a few £ on a thread file, mine has eight different BSW/BSF/BSC thread pitches, very handy for cleaning male threads up. UNC/UNF and Metric versions presumably also available. A.

I think the advised thread lengths are.

For steel a length of thread engagement of at least 1 x Nominal dia's of the thread
For Cast Iron or brass or bronze the thread engagement should be at least 1,5 x Nominal dia's of the thread
For Aluminium , zinc or plastices the thread engagement should be at least 2 x Nominal dia's of the thread

The brake-plate axle nut does not carry any real load. The purpose of the nut is to locate the brake backing plate. In service the wheel/axle should be so positioned so that the Nut is abutting up against the fork leg, thus preventing any possibility of the nut backing off, which in turn would seriously effect brake efficiency.

Thanks gents, another question, will the spindle fall out or does it need encouragement.

Don't forget to undo the pinch bolt(s).
I usually find when removing front wheel spindles, there is a point if you jack the front of the bike up slowly the spindle when pushing from the thread end can be moved manually without the need to use a Birmingham "screwdriver."

The front spindle is stepped to hold the bearings. At least one bearing must be removed to extract the spindle. You might as well take both out and check them while you're at it. They should just tap out but, hey, it's an Enfield.

Reference minor thread repair, I recently picked up a trick of using a good thread (like a good nut or bolt of the correct size) and valve grinding paste to economically correct any burrs and light damage to a thread.



Although I wouldn't recommend it for mission critical threads, it works a treat and is much cheaper than a die nut.