This was scary - dna wheel
Thread Starter
|
Advanced
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 95
Likes: 0
From: new england, worcester county, mass
This was scary - dna wheel
finally got to ride after doing a 200 conversion on my '02 softail and after 50.1 miles my ride made a hell of a noise and vibration. i came to an abrupt (but safe) stop to find that my rear sprocket had come out of my wheel hub!!! looks like some of the new bolts came loose and the rest pulled right out of the billet hub. this was a brand new DNA spoked wheel with a chromed billet hub that i bought from american classic motors. bolts used were new high-grade and were torqued to harley spec with a recently calibrated snap-on torque wrench and had red lock-tite (stick type - that sat for a week due to bad riding weather). no help from american classic motors or DNA. they dont even call back. sent the wheel to a machine shop to have 5 new holes machined into hub and guess i'll try again... any suggestions??
R.I.P. BROTHER
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 3,076
Likes: 6
From: Colorado Springs
finally got to ride after doing a 200 conversion on my '02 softail and after 50.1 miles my ride made a hell of a noise and vibration. i came to an abrupt (but safe) stop to find that my rear sprocket had come out of my wheel hub!!! looks like some of the new bolts came loose and the rest pulled right out of the billet hub. this was a brand new DNA spoked wheel with a chromed billet hub that i bought from american classic motors. bolts used were new high-grade and were torqued to harley spec with a recently calibrated snap-on torque wrench and had red lock-tite (stick type - that sat for a week due to bad riding weather). no help from american classic motors or DNA. they dont even call back. sent the wheel to a machine shop to have 5 new holes machined into hub and guess i'll try again... any suggestions??
I have a set of DNA's and have had no issues whatsoever.
Not trying to be a ******** but are you 100% certain that the bolts you used were the correct thread and length to match the wheel? Where did the bolts come from? Were they a part of the wide tire kit?
Also how is the wheel spaced? Do you maybe have some spacing issues which could have caused this?
What did DNA tell you? Did you call them and speak to an actual human? Its hard to imagine the bolt holes being machined so far off that you had the bolts pull out. I have a connection up at Am Classic but in this case you really need to be speaking with DNA. You have any photos of that wheel showing the damages?
Banned
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 17,265
Likes: 21
From: Los Angeles, CA
I have had no issues with mine either, but of course now I have to run outside and have a look see. That just blows. I am not pointing my finger at either company nor person as we all know things can go wrong from either side. My DNA rear has been on since January and I have put about 6000 miles on it without a problem. I actually bought it used so it was on another bike before too. Hmmmm....
Road Master
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 816
Likes: 10
From: Southern, MD
I have a DNA rear wheel also and the only thing I had to do to mine besides spacers were get shorter bolts because they were not machined down in the hubs enough, but no big deal. other than that I got alil prob with the chrome starting to peal away but thats ok Im powdering them black this winter more than likely.
Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 10,114
Likes: 29
From: Vancouver B.C. Canada
Always check the sprocket bolts prior to installation.
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/softa...-a-lesson.html
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/softa...-a-lesson.html
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 12,946
Likes: 32
From: Colorado Springs, CO
Trending Topics
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 2,289
Likes: 22
From: Beautiful Downtown Burbank
My vote goes to helicoiling the wheel, put it back together, and ride.
One thing I noticed when I did my wheels was a major discrepancy between the torque specs in the manual and the white paper that came with the chrome bolt kit. With what little I know about metallurgy and automotive engineering, the white papers will get you into trouble every time.
One thing I noticed when I did my wheels was a major discrepancy between the torque specs in the manual and the white paper that came with the chrome bolt kit. With what little I know about metallurgy and automotive engineering, the white papers will get you into trouble every time.
Banned
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 3,706
Likes: 7
From: Woodstock, Ont , Can
Done right the helicoils will give a much stronger setup. I believe the golden rule is with 7 threads holding the bolt should snap before it will strip. That's with steel and stainless helicoils. With aluminun as in these wheels it would be good to use as many threads as possible, short of acutally bottoming out. Helicoils in this area are actually an improvement, since Harleys method isn't really an accepted design method anyway. All threads are not created equal. Depending on the tap used the % of contact will vary considerably. Same with bolts. Some are slightly larger than others. Put in a bolt of minimum dia into a slightly oversized aluminum thread and you have pi$$ poor holding power with a strip tease in the making.
Ron
Ron
Road Warrior
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,929
Likes: 301
From: moved to Florida!
I think I'd want to find out exactly how much thread engagement you actually had. Make the bolts as long as possible without bottoming out. Take the washers into account also. Good luck, hope it works out for you.
Jerry
Jerry