Front axle nut

[LAB3]

My front axle nut seems to be kinda "off" looking for a typical castle nut, as if the slots are not cut deep enough. When I torque the wheel to where it needs to be there's barely enough of the slot left to catch the cotter pin, having just swapped out my wheel bearings I made sure everything went where it was supposed to and it all matches the parts fische, the swap seems to have made the issue just a tad worse. I've been to the hardware store and the closest nut that fits is a 9mm which is just a tad small, 10mm is way too big. The Suzuki part number is 08314-31126 and a search doesn't show what the actual size is. Can anyone chime in on this? Is there a possibility it's an English size?

 

[standswithabeer]

just checked the parts fiche for an 82 gs450et (couldn't find gs450txz) and the nut part number comes up as 08314-3112a.
checking ebay, a pic of that nut shows the slots are indeed pretty shallow. after making sure your speedo drive is fully seated and all is well elsewhere, maybe just deepen the slots a smidge with a file? or not.

https://www.partsfish.com/oemparts/a/suz/50d3f09af8700230d8b4b90c/front-wheel

 

[LAB3]

Thanks for the check, that's the "superseded by" part number that I found. I'm familiar with reading part numbers from bolts to grab what I need at the local hardware store but nuts seem to work different, that's why I posted the original in case someone knew how to decode them. It hasn't caused me any issues and the whole "If it aint broke don't fix it" works well most of the time but as of this Thursday I'm on a road trip until autumn barring meeting a sane lady with an empty garage and fat wallet.

 

[Redman]

I just finished reinstalling my front forks and wheel and such.
Would be quite surprised to find that axle nut to be other than metric, especially seeing how well the metric wrench fits it.

I cant say much about the wheel bearings. But have just reviewed all that about the axle spacers and fork bottom caps and such.

Maybe check that dont have the fork bottom caps on backwards. (on mine they match the fork slightly better one way than the other).
Check that speedo drive tangs are seated into the wheel.
Maybe try keeping the fork bottom caps nuts loose so the spacer and axle can move when snug up the axle nut?

 

[cowboyup3371]

At least on my 550, the torque value on the nut has a lower and upper limit - which are you using? I have found that as long as it's in that range I can put the cotter pin in and go ride without an issue

 

[LAB3]

Maybe check that dont have the fork bottom caps on backwards.

You might be on to something there, I'll give that a look! Something just doesn't "feel" right but I did put two inch spacers in the forks this winter to stiffen things up a bit. It would seem that speedo ears out of place would make the assembly wider which would help the issue, it was disassembled so I could repack the grease and I'll give it a look just in case.

At least on my 550, the torque value on the nut has a lower and upper limit - which are you using? I have found that as long as it's in that range I can put the cotter pin in and go ride without an issue

Just looked it up and the manual calls for 26-37.5 on mine and I've been doing 35 from memory since I bought the bike, I'll try to back it off some.

 

[fastbysuzuki]

Sure it will not be an English size, if I'm reading the post correctly could you not use a thin washer behind the nut?
That would push the nut folward, may not be correct but cannot see it being a problem either.

 

[LAB3]

Sure it will not be an English size, if I'm reading the post correctly could you not use a thin washer behind the nut?
That would push the nut folward, may not be correct but cannot see it being a problem either.

Like I'd mentioned, it isn't really a problem more like a curiosity. The washer idea is probably the easiest way to cure a problem that doesn't actually exist!

 

[bwringer]

The nut thread is M12x1.25 - that's sometimes called a "fine" or "extra-fine" pitch, but it's JIS standard for M12 threads. I've actually seen these in real hardware stores, but not very often.

The same nut is used on damn near every GS front wheel, so it's not hard to scare up a used one somewhere or just order one from Suzuki. McMaster-Carr doesn't even have a slotted nut with this thread.

I've found more than one GS with a fine thread half inch nut (which is a rather loose fit) some goober whacked on there. I cannot even fathom the confusion of ideas that would lead to this, but it's a thing that has happened...

And yes, there's supposed to be a flat washer between the steel nut and the aluminum fork.

 

[LAB3]

The nut thread is M12x1.25 - that's sometimes called a "fine" or "extra-fine" pitch, but it's JIS standard for M12 threads. I've actually seen these in real hardware stores, but not very often.

And yes, there's supposed to be a flat washer between the steel nut and the aluminum fork.

My $2 Harbor Freight plastic vernier caliper (Took some refreshing on how to read a vernier!) shows 9.2mm, yes, there is a washer on there now.

 

[bwringer]

Hmmm.... so is it an M10X1.25 thread?

I'll admit I was operating from memory there.

But the bearings are 6302, which is 15mm ID, so the smooth part of the axle is 15mm, same as almost any other GS. And on the GS models I've seen that use the same bearings (which is pretty much all of them), the threads are M12X1.25, and the nut takes a 17mm wrench.

In your case, is that thread M10x1.25? That would take a 14mm wrench.

 

[LAB3]

There's a very well stocked hardware store here in town and as mentioned, 9mm is too small and 10mm too big, never got close enough to deal with the pitch. Measured on the outside edge of the treads it's 9.2mm. 3/8 inch is 9.52mm, close but not close enough. I'm not gonna sweat it either way, I just got back from running about 125 miles and have no qualms about going anywhere on the bike which is what I'll be doing starting Thursday morning!