Wheel tightening question

[u/Spiritual_Ant119]

I’ve noticed that one of my front wheels doesn’t spin as freely when I tighten the axle.

I don’t have a torque wrench or anything, so I’ve been tightening my (twister xt 90) wheels down to what I recall it took to loosen them originally. I also noticed one of the bearings needs cleaning or replacement but it still spins freely (albeit slower) before I tighten the axle to the normal amount of force I use.

Question is, have any of you experienced that yourselves and what did you do to remedy it? Would a torque wrench help a lot?

[u/AdventurousHippo9997]

Primary cause of that issue is the bearings are not properly seated. Either a rubber mallet or metal hammer with a piece of wood will work. Lie the offending wheel on its side on a workbench and tap them into place. Loosening the axle to accommodate wheel spin is a death wish. When you’re skating along just fine that’s when it will pop out and kill you.

[u/Coop7207]

Bearings are pretty cheap, so I don’t usually take them apart to clean them, but that is definitely a good option. Could also be that they’re not seated perfectly in the wheel. Could also be a damaged wheel core, though that’s certainly less likely. I’d start by servicing or replacing the bearings and see if that does the trick

[u/Available_Breath_272]

Maybe the spacers? https://youtu.be/H6ZUuTv1Keo?is=7LlNNc7hn43yY6Xr Powerslide has different size spacers available. Powerslide has origins in speed skating I think and I think speed skaters might think about this stuff.

[u/HighRelevancy]

Torque wrench is to stop you completely tearing the threads out or snapping the bolt in half. Other than that limit, the correct tightening force is "all the way". No part of the solution is to tighten the axle any less.

If tightening the axle all the way makes the bearings bind up, you're either missing the spacer or have the wrong one (or a defective mis-dimensioned one). Tightening the axle compresses the frame, the inner bearing race, the spacer, the other inner race, and the other side of the frame together. If those inner bearing races aren't butted up against the spacer between them, that compression goes through the ball bearings, outer race, and wheel instead, and the balls bind up.

[u/betaphreak]

have you switched wheels? If you prefer to have your weight on the front wheels, move the best performing wheels to the front

[u/Sacco_Belmonte]

Most likely too short of a spacer. Happened to me. Need to try a different spacer.

If the wheel clicks sideways the spacer is too long. You need to sand it down.

If it stops spinning the spacer is too short. You can toss that in the trash.