Axle nut tension causing stiff wheels. Any fix?

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RangaBlitzFanga

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I'd like to know if anyone else has this issue. Friends new dpro 140's rear wheel got really stiff to the point where it would lock up briefly on rotation. It was fairly smooth but not even an hour into a ride it got pretty bad. At first I thought wheel bearings are shot. I havn't pulled his yet but I have looked at my new dpro 160 and it too has fairly stiff wheel rotation.

So I pulled the wheel and found the bearings spin freely. What the?
I quickly noticed the axle nut (on mine at least) is whats causing the problem. If it's really loose it spins nicely, soon as I tighten it beyond finger tightness it goes stiff. It's not too bad but its enough to notice it doesn't spin as freely as any jap bike i've worked on.
One thing I did notice on the Dpro 140 when assembling it was how sloppy a fit the swingarm was, it had to be tightened quite significantly to compress and sit flush against the hub & brake.
Note that I have not touched the spacers, merely pulled the axle out, greased it and slid it back in.

Anyone else notice this or have a fix for it? In my mind my 160 isn't too bad, the 140 on the other hand is a big problem. I havn't exactly reefed the nut on either, it's about as tight as you'd expect it to be with a standard wrench
 
I just space it more with washers as I wasn't happy how mine got stiff too, the wheel I mean. I reckon your swing arm is flexing in and binding the bearings. Wack some washers in there mate, the swing arm side of the wheel spacer
 
The wheel is running straight isn't it? You mentioned not adjusting the spacers/adjusters I'd say that's the problem, the chain has pulled it harder and out of whack on one side.
 
Sometimes when the spacing is up the **** and like you said there is some play that requires over tensioning of the nut the actual axle will bend a bit and this puts excess pressure on the everything that the axle is associated with, but in saying that if you do add any washers to fill the spacing don't forget that the sprocket side is crucial and must be the main side to be setup so the sprockets run in true alignment.
 
yeah mate, check your wheel alignment, and then i would check your centre spacer (the one inbetween the 2 bearings) because sometimes the wear and the tips spread a bit, just enough to push your bearing's centre hole further than its 'casing' and it stiffens it up a bit.
 
Seems to be the brake caliper. Have emailed DHZ about getting a replacement, it was very sticky and replacing the fluid resulted in no rear brakes at all (a couple pieces of rubber came out when flushing the fluid, and it refused to reverse bleed which isn't right. My 160 did it just fine)
Have also installed 2 washers which doesn't stress the swingarm and axle as much, spins reasonably well. Still not as smooth as i'd like but it'll do
 

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