Dust cap

[francisdacat]

Took on a front axle rebuild on a 1989 Schwinn World Road bike I saved from the trashman. In seperating the cone from the keeper nut on one end of the axle I must have twisted my spanner when it finally broke free. Bad day - the dust cap was forced off and now the dust cap slides completely off the cone. ( see pic ) Does this mean I need to replace the cone with dust cap or whole axle as now nothing will insure that the dust cap will stay in place other than the grease. Can you just get the dust caps and slide a new one back on the cone? Are the cones slightly beveled above the part of the cone that contacts the bearings so the dust cap shouldn't slide off? Don't want to mess with the other good cone/dustcap from the other end of the axle. Would definetly appreciate any guidance here. Sorry for all the questions. My other front end rebuilds I never messed up the dust caps. - thanks

[cny-man]

Very hard to find a matching dust cap. First thing to try is some creative use of a pointed punch to get the dust cap to grip again.

[francisdacat]

Ok. Good idea. Certainly got nothing to lose at this point. thanks for the tip. I'll post how it worked out.

[francisdacat]

My 9/16th socket fit snuggly inside the dust cap and a placing the dust cap on a flat piece of plywood, a few taps on the socket and like magic the dust cap now sits snuggly just above the bearing contact surface on the cone. cny-man - thanks for starting the wheels turning.

[cny-man]

That's exactly the right thing to do to fix an unusual problem - you have to think out of the box also. Glad is worked for you.