So ... after finally getting rear wheel nut off for tyre change, went to remove the front and found the front wheel spindle nut cracked. Didnt take any force to remove, so any thoughts as to why ? Previous owner over tightened ? Also the more I take apart, the more corrosion I find - Pic includes one of the spindle clamp bolts, is this common on a 3 year old bike ?
Crumbs, good that you've found & will be replacing them with new ones. I'd add a good dose of copper slip & personally I block the outlet/inlet side of the brake disc nuts with silicon.
Over tightened pinch bolt? Not seen any split nuts before, but axles getting oval is still pretty common. See a lot of damaged plating and staining due to liberal use of high alkaline wash products.
The pinch bolts corrode very badly if used during winter without any protection on them..... second set on mine after 1st set was a bastard to remove after i didnt put the ACF directly into the pinch bolt gap. They are now soaked in ACF50 for this winter and i WILL keep an eye on them
This has happened to me .....nut was easy to get off ...I was the last person to fit the nut no problems used torque wrench correct torque 65NM etc. No corrosion on any bolts... I had a painted mark on the nut /lower fork as safety creep check ...it had not moved. Fitted nut torque clicked (twice) couldn't get the socket off ...strange. bit of effort off came the socket to reveal the cracked nut. I can see my socket left witness marks on the nut where the crack is (in the loosening direction) ....christ that nut has thin walls. I cant believe what I'm seeing ...as i say no corrosion ... correct torques used. As Nelly mentioned I'll check my axle for any ovality ..... new nut ordered. The socket does not have any radius on the end of the flat which engages the nut surface so Im wondering here .....a little play in the socket/nut interface could the edge of the socket flat have bitten the aluminium ? and a wedge effect happened ?
So ....I wonder if when I removed the nut last time it was stiff maybe ....cant remember and the nut became fractured ...fitting it today caused the fracture to actually let go ......
Gerr, Looks to me like the spindle nuts and their mating flanges have been torqued without the proper lube on the thread and flange - leads to over torqueing and snatching. Also try a conventional single hex socket
Interesting/scary! Has anyone asked Ducati about this, especially if always tightened to correct torque?
If the pinch bolts are proper then the cracked axle nut is not going to have your front wheel falling off, but certainly a concern. The dual rear-front socket tools like the one pictured several posts back are terrible tools, particularly for the aluminum front axle nut. They are a poor alternative for proper 6 and 12 point sockets
