[tim_from_PA]

Searched but couldn't find anything similar, sorry if this has been discussed before.

This is what I have:

So during my last ride, the front hub started to develop play twice, and each time I loosened the levers and turned the axle in slightly to retighten, and then closed the levers again. So then after the ride at home I played around with the nut that tightens those two levers, and I found out that in order to even start adding pressure on the axle, it's literally impossible to open the levers by hand. So my quick release levers are kinda useless and I think I have to tighten the axle with a tool from now on. Anyone else have this problem? Seems like something is slightly out of tolerance. Also, the fork/hub is 1.5 years old now and this never happened before.

 

[11053]

Did you check the play in your front hub bearings?
Worn out hub bearings will result in side to side knock that mimics a loose axle. When you tighten the axle the problem can go away for a bit but usually returns.

Why did you need to turn the through axle to tighten things up? Was the axle repeatedly backing out during the ride?

The QR's don't need much pressure on them.

It is possible to wear out a through axle or strip the threads, but that takes some real effort.

 

[Deerhill]

My 2011+

^^good info do not over tighten..

This is non brake side, floats on the axle you will see it wiggle if you push on it when the qr is open.. it can move though with hard use even when torqued to spec, I found that the right sized spacer keeps it square.. do you have a hope hub?
View attachment 888795

 

[tim_from_PA]

There is no play in the hub bearings, and it's a wheeltech hub. Yes the axle is backing out during the ride. The threads on the axle are fine too. At first the quick release didn't need much pressure, but now I guess it does??

 

[11053]

Borrow another axle and give that a try.
It will be easy to tell if the fit is different.

 

[vancouver]

There is no play in the hub bearings, and it's a wheeltech hub. Yes the axle is backing out during the ride. The threads on the axle are fine too. At first the quick release didn't need much pressure, but now I guess it does??

I have the same fork and noticed that when riding around here (Vancouvers north shore) my front wheel will feel a little "loose" by the end of the ride.

The solution is to add a tiny bit more pressure (tighten very slightly) on the qr's. Not too much or you can crack the bolts.

Once I did this the axle did not come loose again.

 

[madstace]

I had this on my 36 at one point and found that the QR levers seemed to be binding a bit on the plate between them and the fork, so was never getting the right amount of torque to keep everything snug. What I did was take everything off, add a bit of grease to all moving bits as well as the plate and lever, then set the bolts right. This is probably the biggest pain, as even an 1/8 of a turn can go from too loose to too tight. Once I had mine set its been pretty much set and forget. I find if I'm taking the wheel out regularly that the QR bolts might need a bit of attention, but other than that its been all good.

It sounds like you're bolting it up right (axle first then levers), so if that doesn't work the only thing I can think of is perhaps a slight bit of bearing play in the hub, which can be harder to detect when the wheel is out. Good luck!

 

[Deerhill]

There is no play in the hub bearings, and it's a wheeltech hub. Yes the axle is backing out during the ride. The threads on the axle are fine too. At first the quick release didn't need much pressure, but now I guess it does??

Screw on the axle w/ the wheel installed, leave QR open.. does the leg move a couple mm on the axle if you push/ pull on the non-brake side leg?