Headset keeps loosening

[mattr]

mattr- my avatar may jog your memory! Headset is 32mm, fixed cup is 36mm. You must have had three spanners?

you may be right, I can vaguely remember snapping a pedal spanner getting a pedal off an old Williams (?) crank on my dads Jack Hobbs. That may have been the third of three.

 

[torqueless]

And on the spanner issue I have one large adjustable spanner that can fit either nut.

I don't see how you can tighten a headset with one spanner? At the least, you would have to improvise something to hold the cup stationary while tightening the locknut against it, unless you can hold the cup against spanner-torque in your fist, in which case remind me to be wary of shaking hands with you!

If you got the steerer groove, by rights you should have the tabbed washer- that may help, but personally I wouldn't be able to get a headset tight and properly adjusted with one spanner. It's possible this spanner shortage alone is the source of your problem.

 

[nathanm26]

@torqueless - yes I was doing my best with my hand to stop the lower nut from over tightening. I did think the upper nut was tight enough though. But it seems maybe not tight enough!

A new spanner (and thanks for the link Martin) is probably the solution. Never used one of these new fangled threaded headsets before.

I assume the tabbed washer holds still so that when the upper nut is tightened it applies only downward pressure to the lower nut. Mine, having no tab must rotate clockwise encouraging the lower nut to tighten further.

Two spanners seems like the simple solution. Why go to the bother of slotting steerers and tabbing washers? Is the slot in my steerer original or added by a previous owner? It seems strange that it has a slot but the washer has no tab.

Anyway - thanks for the advice

N

 

[torqueless]

I guess the tabbed washer can make headset adjustment a one-spanner job up to a point, tightening the top cup up, and the locknut down, against the washer in turn, provided your spanner is thin enough to work on the cup without fouling on the locknut. As I understand it, without the washer-tab in the slot, the whole assembly- top cup, washer and locknut- is apt to move around the thread as a unit, both during 'tightening' with one spanner, and perhaps while riding.

Might be misinterpreting you, but, to be clear, I don't see 'two spanners' and 'tab and slot' as two alternative ways of tightening a headset. They are complimentary. Anyway the slot is optional- on some frames it's there and on some it's not, so presumably it's not essential to have one in order that your headset doesn't work loose.

I'd guess the slot in the steerer threads to be original- AFAIK it wouldn't have been common practice to cut one yourself. Yours stops before it reaches the top of the steerer so is done by machine, not by hand. It's much neater than anything I could do with a hacksaw and file. Maybe your headset is not original to the frame, and the original one had a tabbed washer?

 

[nathanm26]

Might be misinterpreting you, but, to be clear, I don't see 'two spanners' and 'tab and slot' as two alternative ways of tightening a headset. They are complimentary.

Yea I understand that - I was just trying to figure out how important (if at all) the tabbed washer would be. I know the 2nd spanner will probably solve the problem - but I thought this tabbed washer could also be handy as a way of stopping the two nuts from moving as one unit (as you say).

That's how it loosens out on the road (I forgot to mention that) - as one unit. It's not the top loosening first, it's both together.

Anyway I will get a 2nd spanner and go from there. This retrobiking malarkey is turning out to be a voyage of discovery. Internal cam skewers, 2 spanner headset adjustment - the list goes on.

Thanks for the advice as always.

Nathan

 

[The History Man]

Another vote for two spanners. Otherwise not enough force to lock without over tightening everything. Should be easy with two.