I have a BOB Yak skewer that is slightly too long for this rear axle. I ‘fixed’ this by placing a handful of washers between the outside of the drive side dropout and the QE skewer nut. It’s tight but will it break or slip out and kill me as I bomb a hill?
by cyclebullcity
16 Comments
If you have to ask…
Don’t.
Uhhh … why don’t you get 2 md skewer for when you not using your trailer
With that dropout, yes almost certainly
Have I done dumb shit like this? Yes. Did I have dependents at the time? No.
Probably
If you need to space it out this much it’s not great. Using knurled washers will be safer than the pictured set up while still not ideal.
Maybe even safer would be a small section of old axle with some lock nuts for spacing. Would keep it centered on the QR axle and have knurling to grip the frame better.
Best solution is to get the proper QR but with BOB out of business that might be hard to do.
No clue on wether it’ll work or not, but I wouldn’t be “bombing” hills with a trailer attached. Riding with a trailer means taking a bit of extra caution.
Why not just put your original skewer back on when not using the trailer?
The BOB skewers are one size and made to support tandem axles (maybe even Santana axles – very long). I measured the exposed length once I threaded the skewer nut all the way on and then cut off that much from the end of the skewer (plus a few millimeters). It’s still longer than my original rear wheel skewer but I don’t have a bunch of washers trying to take up space.
Honestly, just take a hacksaw to the skewer and cut it shorter. Problem solved
Looks spooky
You’ll probably be fine. As others have said, knurled washers would be more fine. Speed is not necessarily your enemy, but vibration is, in my opinion. Of course higher speeds means more violent vibrations. Take it on some test rides without children on bumpy roads at speed and see if it budges?
If you don’t need to use the QR on a different bike, you can cut the threaded portion of the quick release shaft to length and eliminate the need for washers.
The washer approach isn’t too bad, but you’re using the wrong size. You’re not getting a stable clamp across the frame. You need washers with a smaller inside diameter to match the QR, with roughly the same outside diameter to match the quick release nut. I’d also use half the washers on one side and half on the other to avoid a super tall stack.
One of my “bicycle experiences” incident was the rear hub bearing seized, locking the axle and the rim together solidly and wheel cannot spin at all though “freewheeling” (backpedal) still work.
I have no tools.
So, I remove the QR, lube each end of the axle/locknut with ‘left over’ grease I could found on my bike, put the wheel back on the dropout without the QR and CAREFULLY rode bike back home.
It’s a weird but interesting experience…
This damage the frame, namely the dropout face/slot got knock around and grinded by the spinning axle/locknut.
But thanks to the grease, the damage is relatively mild and the bike survives the ordeal to ride another day.
I keep hearing that internet hit “ Dumb ways to die 🎶🎶🎶”