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  • Assembling XT hollowtech crankshaft
  • oldboy
    Free Member

    I recently read an article in (I think it was) MBUK, which showed the crankshaft being liberally coated with grease before being pushed through the bearing cups. Surely, the crank relies on frictional contact with the inner bearing race, so what is the point of the grease?

    Taff
    Free Member

    to stop any interaction between the surfaces which may cause them to fuse together. It’s literally a slip coat rather than a lubrication

    oldboy
    Free Member

    Thanks, Taff. That I can understand, but the pic in the mag showed it oozing grease!

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    shedfull
    Free Member

    It also protects from corrosion. I grease steerer tubes for the same reason.

    oldboy
    Free Member

    Thanks, shedfull. Again, no problem with light lubrication.

    foxyrider
    Free Member

    TBH all that grease will be stripped off anyhow when you push the axle in?

    andyl
    Free Member

    It will and push up against the drive side bearing seal filling with dirt and grit.

    I prefer to lightly grease the plastic bearing seals so the shaft pushed it to the non-drive side where you want some anyway on the splines.

    uplink
    Free Member

    TBH all that grease will be stripped off anyhow when you push the axle in?

    It will but the axle will have less of a chance of damaging the lip of the seal on assembly even though it’s a small risk anyway
    Standard/good practice to grease/oil the lip of most seals before assembly

    Dry insertions are never good 🙂

    seth-enslow666
    Free Member

    I always grease them, a bit of copper grease and some standard water proof stuff. I have never had one fail and have run about 10 different cranks of that sort over the years. I’m a pretty heavy rider too. Also when I come to take them off they drop out easy. I would never think about assembling one dry! bad practice as said above.

    foxyrider
    Free Member

    Uplink – you mistook what I was saying – I agree with a bit of grease – it’s just the liberal grease will get wiped off (bit of a waste of grease ) 🙂

    i.e.

    seth-enslow666
    Free Member

    Why does the crank end have a hole in near the thread? I was looking at this the other day on mine

    druidh
    Free Member

    Is that the hole in the splined section?

    It’s for the wee shim to fit into – the one that’s between the two bolts on the NDS crank.

    seth-enslow666
    Free Member

    Yeah the hole near the end of the splined section of shaft you can see in the pic above I’m not getting that though druidth?

    There’s a small steel plate that the two bolts go through, that has a projection to locate in that hole.
    It means the crank won’t slide off the shaft if the bolts come loose.

    druidh
    Free Member
Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 15 total)

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