Which way round should my rear wheel axle go?

[swee'pea99]

Ok, for reasons I won't bore you with I've completely disassembled the rear wheel hub. Now I'm looking to reassemble it, but (not least because of the problems I won't bore you with) I'm concerned about the possibility of putting the axle the wrong way round. Basically, the threaded section on one end is about 1cm longer than the threaded section on the other end - should I put the longer-threaded section on the freewheel end, or on the other end? (Common sense would seem to suggest the freewheel end - it has further to go before it meets the locking nut - but common sense has led me astray many a time.)

Any advice much appreciated.

 

[Tigerbiten]

From the great man himself "Sheldon Brown" .........

If you are doing a rear hub, make sure that the axle is going in the same way it came out, so that the long end will be on the freewheel side.

Luck ...........

 

[swee'pea99]

Many tas! I did try consulting The Man Himself, but somehow managed to miss that bit.

 

[andrew_s]

With a freehub, rather than a freewheel, the other way may be better, though I doubt it matters much.

What matters is the distance from the cone to the axle end, and whilst on a freewheel the bearings are inboard of the freewheel, on a freehub they are near the outside end of the cassette, and the non-drive side bearings may actually be further from the locknuts, in the interests of allowing a lower difference between DS and non-DS spoke tensions.