problem with front wheel hub
 

I bought a used bike 2 days ago

well, the front wheel kinda move to left and right while the fork is stable .. I hope you can understand what I mean.

there is 3 nuts I dont know what it is for ? and I dont konw where to put it .. right side or left side :/

there is 3 photos .. 1 for left side and another for right side and another for the 3 nuts

You need to adjust the bearings. Actually, you need to have the hub overhauled.

Either requires a skinny "cone" wrench. I'm assuming you don't have one. Probably your best bet is to take the wheel to a bike shop.

The first photo shows that you need more than an adjustment. Go to Parktools.com, sheldonbrown.com or just do a google search for "front hub overhaul." But be advised that your hub probably suffered either water contamination or worse (that grey/silver color may be disintegrated metal) and it may need either parts (cones, balls) or full replacement.

http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-...and-adjustment

Pretty much every likely question/situation is answered there.

I will try this after tomorrow cuz I will go home tomorrow and come back at sunday .. thanks everyone and I will tell you wat happened later :)

I really wanna to know how to fix those stuff so I can help myself anytime. Also I can't trust bike's shops here, they don't have much experience. I got that cone wrench and fixed the wobble for seconds, and suddenly it started to wobble again :/

I am afraid it is about what is inside the Hub, I was thinking that I can clean the hub and re grease it again, but I am afraid about the Brake's disk that If I get it out I willnot be able to get it back again in it's right positions. what do you think?

Also the wheel doesn't move smoothly, I mean I can't tough the bearing more than that it will stop spinning, also I can't free it anymore or it will wobble very much.

(fix my verbs please If it is wrong. I really need to know the right verbs so I can explain better)

and thanks to everyone helped me, I really appreciate that :)

I think I understand the whole think wrong .. you were talking about the balls inside the hub while I was tlaking about the cone should be tight with the lockout. right? .. if it's right .. well those tools on Park tool is hard to find here, where should I search for and how could I get them? .. btw this black material is a kind of grease we call it her Balck Grease and this is the problem if I search for somethink like Park Tool PolyLube 1000 Grease, None will understand me and they will ask me just what the grease's Color you are searching for :/

If thats the case you may have bad bearings you need to remove all the loose bearings and look some may be cracked or missing all together. Looking at photo 1 I'd say some are gone.

Is there's is a specific kind of bearing or should I buy any bearings?

Well, you'll need the specific size of bearing ball that the hub was designed to use - most front hubs use 3/16 inch balls, but yours may not.

OK I will open it and check everything and remove bad bearings and clean the whole hub from grease with wd-40 which is avaliable here in Egypt (or what kind of tool to clean the inside of hub) then I will buy new bearing the same size and re grease the hub with any kind of grease (maybe green one) .. right? should I remove the Brake's disk and clean it too?

Not with WD-40 you shouldn't. WD40 is a lubricant, it leaves behind an oily residue. It'll clean out the hub fine, but you don't want it anywhere on the brake disc.

So should I remove the brake disc while cleaning the hub?

Just go to www.amazon.com and search for Park Tools. There might be one or two of their tools that are not for sale there, but I would be surprised. Prices are also usually very competitive or better than others sites. If you are well funded, you could also look into some of the bike mechanic tool sets from Park, Campagnola, and others brands. At a minimun you can stare and the pictures and wonder just what the heck that thing there fits....!

I am from Egypt, If I bought something for 5$ from amazon I will pay like 50$ till it reach me here !

cleaned the 2 hubs with WD-40 and it tooks hours !! :/ anyway all bearings are good but cone was broken, there is 2 (rings) or whatever you call it and one of them was broken and was there with the bearning which made bike doesn't move smoothly


here is a photo for both cones .. (left) one with 2 circles and the other one (right) which doesn't have and I don't know If I should get a new cone or this missed ring won't make a problem

I didn't grease or get all this back .. I just left the 2 wheels till I get the new cone.. any thoughts?

Also I cant remove cassette to clean it .. It need a tool which I dont have ..

Those cones look alright, not pitted or worn too much, how about the inside of the hub, the surface where the balls ride? I know you cannot see the side with the cassette on (or is it freewheel?) but the other side. You should have 11 balls per side. Sometimes you CAN get in and clean without removing the gears, but it is a real pain, working with a swab on a stick to clean, a little flat stick to get grease in and poking balls in place before inserting the axle with cone back in....THEN do the none drive side.

No there is a missed circle with the right cone, look carefully and btw it is not worn at all, it is just some dust and my mobile camera is not that good. Well, inside the hub is very good, there is no rust or any kinds of scratches or anything at both wheels.. but I couldn't clean it completely from grease .. It is so hard and I can't reach every spot to clean it with cloth or something.

and there was 10 inside the front wheel and 9 inside the rear wheel. what about the cassette, how can I remove it?

Ball bearing size and Number differs by hub. If it is a cassette, it takes a special lockring tool to loosen the lockring while using a chainwhip to hold the gears in place. If it is a freewheel, it takes the specific freewheel tool, held in place by the axle/ with a big wrench to break loose. A pic of the Gear cluster should tell which it is. The missing circle is probably to keep dust and crud out of the bearing, not critical, but without it, you will need to lube it more often

It is cassette, I dont know how to get this tool. Is the cone is OK?

The cones look good. If they are pitted or groved where the ball bearings ride then you would replace them. You can clean out the old grease with clean rags unless the old grease has hardened. I don't think you will need a new cone because of the plastic seal ring.
When you put the hub back together make sure you tighten the right side cone and locknut first. Then install the assembly and install the left cone and locknut. When they are properly adjusted there should be a small amount of play that will o away when the quick release is closed.

Fixed Both Hubs .. like 3 hours of working :/ .. the front hub move very smoothly while the rear is not the same but .. it was so hard to move cones even If I install the one near the cassette first, the other cone go inside the hub and couldn't move it anyway .. I kinda satisfied with the results .. it much better than the first time .. thnx everyone :)

I really don't know what is happening right now .. everything was good .. front wheel was running smoothly and there is no wobble, I got out for a ride .. after 5 mints it was wobbling so bad :-/ .. what the f*** !!

Did you use the proper size balls in each hub?

my guess is, you either got the wrong sized balls in the wrong place, or you didn't have the locknuts setup right against the cones.

is there a Shimano part number on these hubs? it will likely be FB-Mxxx or similar. for instance, a HB-M585 is a Deore LX front hub for disc brakes, and the parts diagram is here, http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/te...9830637979.pdf

the index to all shimano parts is here,
http://techdocs.shimano.com/techdocs/index.jsp

and you can enter a part number in that search box on the upper left to find it. or, go to mountain or road bike, and select a 'group' and scan the list of all parts in that group.

re: cleaning with WD-40... Not having a professional parts cleaner machine, I use that all the time, I buy it by the gallon can (a gallon lasts me /years/). don't waste your time with aerosol cans. I'll just take some 'rubbing alcohol' (Isopropyl aka isopropanol) and wipe off the brake surfaces when I'm done. or you could use a paint thinner for this, anything that will dissolve grease and leave a clean metal surface. small parts like axles, cones, bearings go into a jar or can and get covered with WD40 to soak out the old crud, then wiped clean on a rag and left out to dry for a bit. hubs, I have a squirt bottle (the kind with a trigger) filled with WD40, and will squirt it into the fully diassembled hub cups and wipe clean with a rag, repeat until shiny clean.

re: grease, I generally use green 'marine' waterproof ball bearing grease, this should be available at any auto parts store. its nice and clean, lasts a long time. bicycles don't need a high temperature lithium or moly grease (the black stuff is probably moly, the yellow-white stuff lithium). When you reassemble a ball bearing, you want to pretty much FILL the area the balls are in with grease such that it oozes out when you assemble the cone + seal. wipe away any excess on the outside of the seal, of course.