Mt. Fury Roadmaster 15 Speed Index Shifting Rear Wheel Problem

[devan264]

Hi everyone. I'm new to this forum and new to the bike community in general so i apologize for anything i may do or say that may seem naive.

My sister got into an accident on her brand new bike so it needed to be repaired by a mechanic. long story short instead of being repaired, it sat in storage for over a year so I decided to take it out and repair it myself. So far I spent about 9 hours fixing things like the rear breaks, tires, gears, bolts, chain, seat, and various other things. Everything seems to be working except the rear wheel. It keeps coming out of place which causes it to rub against the frame. any suggestions? Anything is appreciated.

[DaveM]

Well, it's the right side nut that is slipping which is why the tire rubs on the left side of the frame.

But first, where did that thick spacer that is under the left side nut come from? It looks a lot like an axle spacer that should be inside of the axle locknuts. The axle also looks suspiciously long like you left some spacers out. Did you take the rear axle apart? If so, you may have left that spacer out or put the various parts back in the wrong order. But assuming that's all sorted...

This kind of axle nut does not need a washer under it. The way your picture shows the left side, the rear wheel isn't pulled back far enough into the frame. This bike may have the kind of derailleur that is held on by the axle nut on the right. Make sure that that whole assembly is as far back in the dropout as possible. Some of the derailleur hanger do have a small lip that fits inside the drop out, some just have their cut out line up exactly with the back of the dropout.

Other things that might help:
- light sanding on the area where the nuts clamp on the frame.
- Make sure the threads are cleaned and greased on the axle.
- If there's any sign the nuts or axle threads are stripped, you need to replace.

[devan264]

(03-16-2014, 12:05 AM)DaveM Wrote:  Well, it's the right side nut that is slipping which is why the tire rubs on the left side of the frame.

But first, where did that thick spacer that is under the left side nut come from? It looks a lot like an axle spacer that should be inside of the axle locknuts. The axle also looks suspiciously long like you left some spacers out. Did you take the rear axle apart? If so, you may have left that spacer out or put the various parts back in the wrong order. But assuming that's all sorted...

This kind of axle nut does not need a washer under it. The way your picture shows the left side, the rear wheel isn't pulled back far enough into the frame. This bike may have the kind of derailleur that is held on by the axle nut on the right. Make sure that that whole assembly is as far back in the dropout as possible. Some of the derailleur hanger do have a small lip that fits inside the drop out, some just have their cut out line up exactly with the back of the dropout.

Other things that might help:
- light sanding on the area where the nuts clamp on the frame.
- Make sure the threads are cleaned and greased on the axle.
- If there's any sign the nuts or axle threads are stripped, you need to replace.

Thanks Dave for replying. Since I'm completely new to this, I unfortunately don't understand most of what you said. I do however have an idea of what you mean by the spacer. I put it there to see if there would be any difference with the issue. on the other side ,where the derailleur is, it only goes that far back. which causes the left to be so far away from the end of the hole/space where I'm guessing it is supposed to be. Since my sister got into the accident, many people have taken a look at the bike so I'm not sure what it initially was supposed to look like as far as the nuts and bolts go. I'll add a few pictures of each side so you can see what I am talking about.

[nfmisso]

Hi Devan;

Take the rear wheel out of the frame.

The rear derailleur is not properly located and attached in your pictures. It needs to be much further back in the frame - all the way back, and the slot in the claw aligned with the slot in the frame.

[cny-man]

I basically agree. Remove the wheel, then slightly loosen the nut holding the derailleur hanger (top part of the derailleur) onto the frame and slide the hanger back all the way into the dropout (slot). Make sure the open part is aligned with the dropout and tighten securely (but be careful, it's a small nut and easy to strip).

Then mount the rear wheel. (without that spacer) First pull the wheel all the way back and tighten the right nut very securely (tighten until it is firm and you feel a sudden, large increase in resistance). Look over the rear wheel from the top and center the wheel in the frame with your right hand, then just tighten the left nut, making sure the wheel remains centered. If not then redo until it's right. Tighten the left nut securely.

If it still does not hold you will need some serrated washers from the hardware store to place under the nuts.