Rear Axle Project

[Timbone]

About a week and a half ago, I suffered a second (and final) rear axle break that led to a minor crash with road rash on my knee and forearm. About a month before that, I broke the original OCC Chopper Bike axle while riding to work. I fixed that by replacing the axle with a section of stainless all thread rod (3/8") using half sealed bearings that fit nicely in the original cups.

Both axles broke on the right/pedal side, at the site where the bearings take weight/force. The replacement bearings (just 3/8" ID x 1" OD) were overmatched from the start.

I've ordered 4 high quality 12mm x 28mm sealed bearings and I am going to beef up to 1/2" all thread for my axle.

I took apart my rear wheel and removed the sprocket adapter. I cut the OCC Chopper hub down the middle, then cut the flanges free and trimmed them down so I can weld them to some conduit pieces I got from the electrical dept at Lowe's.

The plan is for this hub to finish at 6 1/2"; eventually it will serve in my back wheel on my next build, fitting into a 7" swing arm.

Here's a pic of the hub pre-welding; also a pic of the freewheel hub/ freewheel remover I made from a leftover brass plumbing part in the garage:

 

[Frankenstein]

Those look like the plumbing parts in my frame supporting the muffler clamps lol.. If they are capable of supporting half the weight of the bike on that hub I think they should be able to act as a supportive feature in a downtube simply to prevent it from collapsing.

 

[Timbone]

These things are strong, 3/4" galvanized conduits. They are threaded and take a coupling that is 1 1/4" OD - perfect for the sprocket adapter I have!

I will be using 4 8mm sealed bearings. It looks like two will have to be locked inside the hub when I weld it up. These things weld very nicely so there should be no problem getting good penetration with resulting super strength.

I have the idea that there could be a real market for a hub like this running on a 1/2" axle. Of course it would need to be made for 135mm dropouts.

 

[Frankenstein]

These things are strong, 3/4" galvanized conduits. They are threaded and take a coupling that is 1 1/4" OD - perfect for the sprocket adapter I have!

I will be using 4 8mm sealed bearings. It looks like two will have to be locked inside the hub when I weld it up. These things weld very nicely so there should be no problem getting good penetration with resulting super strength.

I have the idea that there could be a real market for a hub like this running on a 1/2" axle. Of course it would need to be made for 135mm dropouts.

They don't dent easily when I use a hammer to shove them in there so that's a good start. They expect you to use a real ass monkey wrench to assemble and disassemble them so they better be strong to take some of the forces involved in that alone.

The pipe itself is great for hanging 300 pound tapestries on walls too!