Keyway loose on a DX hub, don't know what to do?

Unicycles and Equipment
1

my keyway in my DX hub is loose, whatever that means
when I move the cranks(they move like 5mm) it is obvious that that is what it is.
is there any easy way to fix it?
can I possibly weld the hub to the axle w/o messing anything up/weakening it toooo much?
is it possible to press them out w/o a real press?
i have a DRILL press
a vise (broken ATM)
drills
i have access to bearing pullers

just any ideas on how to fix it permanently and quickly?
i don’t mind the hub not coming apart again… ever… except the cranks from the axle.
well
it sucks, i can feel it A LOT when i’m riding. should I send it in for warranty? (that would suck BAD!!)

I think im going to treat myself to a KH in a few months, but for now i want this fixed. Please be serious and only post useful information.

2

If it’s anything like my KH hub then your pretty much screwed get a new hub. Because the hub, “shell,” and, “Axel,” are different material [aluminum and steel (which means unless you have acess to a Friction Stirr Welding machine you can’t weld them together.)]

Most likely what you did is work the key back and forth in the aluminum, shoving it around and making the keyway bigger…Buy a new hub or uni. <I would pick uni.<

3

People have had issues with keyway slop with profiles. Maybe search for that and see what they did. I think I heard about people using JB weld or something to fix it.

4

hmm
jbweld doesn’t seem possible to be strong enough.
I think the whole thing is steel, but i’m not sure

5

I dont know if this applies to a torker hub but here is John Childs’ fix of the keyway slop in his profiles. link

6

I used metal epoxy to fix the keyway slop in my Profile setup. It hasn’t gotten particularly hard use since then, maybe a dozen rides or so, but it’s held so far.

7

If your talking about what I think you are, does the crank wobble like theres space in between the splines? What I did on one of my old Dxes is just put it in a vise and tried to make the hole close uyp a lil. Like where the side bolt is, I smashed that in to close it up to make a tighter fit…

8

The axle is hard and the key is soft. Is the hub also keyed? It’s probably comparably soft, too. Can you pull the key and bend it slightly so it binds in the keyway(s)? You would need a drift punch to put it back in but it would be tight if the axle didn’t restraighten it too much.

9

wouldn’t it just bend back then?
eh, i guess you know much more about it than I do, but that is what it seems. Cody, it is DEFINITELY not that, the cranks do do that a little bit, but this is a lot, and both cranks move when it moves.

10

Neaver thought of the JB weld or metal epoxy, learn something everyday. About being strong enough, what do you have to lose?

You might try roughing up the surface with some really coarse sandpaper first to get some extra grip.

11

JB Weld is extremely strong, I have used it to hold stripped pedals in place, which lasted about a month of hopping up curbs and such.

I have also used JB Weld to seal a gas tank, which lasted about 6 months, then developed a very small leak.

12

Ah. The hub is aluminum. Can you cut some soda can shims that will fit the worn keyway in the aluminum hub? then you could drift the key back in with the shim on the hub side to make it tight.