mynameisnotdrew

Howdy Folks,

Tightening my loose hub (deore lx paralax)today, I decided to go nuts and repack it with new grease and bearings. When I took the axle out, to my dismay, I found it to be stripped. Or is it? All of the stripped area is nowhere near anywhere the cones would be or have been. Does the axle come pre-stripped in the middle to save weight? Seems ridiculous, but I cant think of how else this would have happened.

Also, there's this little lip covering the bearings on the freehub side. Is this removable? I took a flathead to it, but it didn't come off easily, and I don't want to screw it up. Can I get this thing off?

Thanks for any advice
-Drew