Roller Retainer Thrust Washer

Wheels, hubs and tires
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lownslow
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Roller Retainer Thrust Washer

#1

Post by lownslow »

Seems like everything I take apart has some odd thing done to it. I finally got around to rebuilding my front wheel hub. It was a bit loose side to side. Upon disassembly I noticed it just has a thrust washer in the place where the roller retainer thrust washer should be. (See pic from bigincher's article). This washer is a light press fit into the hub and there's not one in there. Been rolling fine with no real interior damage but I want it to spec when it goes back together. Is it ok to run it like this with correct clearances? Is this a later model hub where they discontinued that part? Guess I would have to mic the existing washer and the thickness of the RR thrust washer that is supposed to be in there. It's proving a hard part to find, tried Good old, old dude and others. I'll keep looking in the meantime.

From the article:
"The brake side is assembled first, and the first piece to go in is the roller retainer thrust washer. The lip goes in, and the thrust surface faces out. Sometimes it’s necessary to tap this in place; if so, I use a deep socket of just the right diameter to lightly tap on, setting the it firmly in place on the shoulder inside the hub".
RRTW.jpg
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Danthepan2426
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Re: Roller Retainer Thrust Washer

#2

Post by Danthepan2426 »

I have the same thing going on with the rear hub. I wanted to know the same question. I did notice that if it were in I wouldn't have any clearance to install the spring lock. Let me know if you got the answer
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Bigincher
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Re: Roller Retainer Thrust Washer

#3

Post by Bigincher »

That thrust washer needs to be in there. Sometimes they stay put, and can be incorrectly assumed that it's part of the hub itself. Verify first that it is indeed missing. When in place, there should be no issues engaging the snap ring. Just be sure the thrust washer is fully seated in the hub, and that there's not a lot of extra grease between the parts.
Sometimes it's tight on the second snap ring holding the cork in. But with care and persistence they will go.

I was able to find NOS HD inner roller retainer thrust washers, but I'm pretty sure they are now obsolete.
I did a quick search, found the Roller Retainer Thrust Washer available at 45-Restoration.

http://www.45restoration.com/Department ... Axles.aspx

Try 45 Parts Depot, too:

http://www.flatlandmotorcyclecompany.co ... dlist.html

If you have any more questions, just ask. I'll try to help. Star hubs are cool, actually pretty easy to rebuild and set up correctly.
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