Shimano hub rant
 

Last night I was servicing the rear hub on my commuter. It's an FH-M475 disc hub. On the non-drive side I noticed the dust cap was bent up and even torn a bit on the inside where the cone nut sits. I reshaped the cap as best I could on my work bench, cleaned out all the old grease, put in brand new 1/4" bearings and packed it with Phil Wood grease.

Curiously the wheel spins better, but makes a slight scraping noise from the cone rubbing on the inside of the dust cap.

Today, I stopped by a fairly reputable LBS in town, with the Shimano exploded diagram printout in hand. I could not for the life of me find a part number for the dustcap. I talked to their wheel guru and he said you cannot buy the dustcap separately - it's only sold as part of the hub.

I'd reviewed my workaround solution, and he concurred that's the best I can do short of replacing the hub. These dustcaps are so soft and fragile I can't understand why Shimano does not sell them individually. I can buy replacement washers and lock nuts, but not the dust caps. WTF!? ARRG.

Thanks for letting me rant.

Take a look at "aftermarket" manufacurers like Problem Slovers or Wheels Manufacturing. WM has complete axle sets/assemblies for most of the Shimano hubs so they might have dust caps....

You're talking about the soft metal dust caps right? Can't reshape it so it doens't grind?

Dust caps are dimensionally pretty tolerant and supposed to be a non-wear item. If you got too rough when you removed it or managed to bend it while riding, just reshape it with a mallet and plastic punch on a firm surface. The shape isn't critical as long as it doesn't rub.