I recently removed my front wheel to paint the front fender. After I installed everything back into place and tightening the bolts I tried to use the old split pin on the axle and couldn't get it to fit. Do I need that split pin and if so, are they available at any auto parts store or do I need to order them at a bike shop?
Yes you need the split-pin in place, it retains the nut in the event of it becoming loose on the axlebolt. Autostores sell them for buttons.
Yeah and it also keeps the but from backing out due to vibration. I got a assorted pack for less than $2. Its a inexpensive saftey item that should always be replaced once taken off.
awesome... thanks
Better known as a "cotter pin". Never heard of split pin till I opened up the Haynes manual.
Taken from Wikipeadia......and 100% true (for a change).
In the United States, cotter pin (also known as a cotter key[1] or a split pin) is a metal fastener with two tines that are bent during installation, similar to a staple or rivet. Typically made of wire with a half-circular cross section, cotter pins come in multiple sizes and types.
In the UK, the term split pin has traditionally been used to describe the same device.[2] The term "cotter pin" is reserved for the tapered round cotter that was used to fix bicycle pedal cranks to their shaft, being installed offset from the diameter of the driven crank, flat on one side to prevent rotation and tapered so as to tighten the entire union. The different usage between the two countries is often a cause of confusion when companies of both countries work together.
....so purely out of curiosity, what is the tapered pin that holds pushbike crank-arms onto the shaft called in the US?
this is what I've always known as a cotter pin
(http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ti9guE1Su8EhBM:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/CotterPin.png)
this is what the bike has on it
(http://tbn1.google.com/images?q=tbn:ZhsZE166ccNRcM:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Cotter_Pin_(PSF).png)
.....and this is what Europeans, (and it would appear some Americans) call a Cotter-pin
http://harriscyclery.net/itemdetails.cfm?ID=1586