Spacers floating vs long

[FatAndSlow 0]

Floating spacers vs long (don't know correct name) spacers. Is there any difference in wheel performance? Is one type "better" than the other?

[DamnLocust 0]

i don't know of any performance difference, but you may not have a choice. Skates that utilize floating spacers have thicker axles than skates that do not.

[G60 0]

yeah. the ID of a floating spacer is the same as the ID of the bearing.

a long spacer seats inside the bearing. it's all dependant on the axles you use.

[bigmack 0]

Floating spaces make my bearings stick to the chassis of my Missions

[tryandstopme 35]

Floating spaces make my bearings stick to the chassis of my Missions

which missions do you have? the more recent missions aren't supposed to be used with floating spacers.

[MDE3 0]

Floating spaces make my bearings stick to the chassis of my Missions

That usually means one of several things:

that the floating spacers are too short.(should be exactly.400")

that the wheel hub step is too wide.(should be .400" +.000", - .002")

that the wheel hub step is not centered in the wheel

that the chassis bosses have too much space between them inside the chassis.

and one other possibility is that the chassis holes are not drilled square to the frames causing the wheels to mount crookedly inside the chassis and rub against the side frames.

When you tighten the bolt or axle bolt on any skate, the side of the chassis frames should always engage the inner races of the bearings, or the ends of the one piece axle spacer before touching the sides of the bearings. When the wheel hub step (the little raised portion inside the wheel hub) is too wide, it does not let the inner races of the bearings get snugged up tight to either the floating spacer, or the axle shoulder, and ends up binding the balls of the bearings against the groove of the outer races..this is most often what causes wheels to "stick" or bind.

In some cases, the bosses inside the chassis could also have too much clearance between them. Then when you tighten the frames, it may pull the frames in too far, and actually touch the sides of the wheels....

The "axle/spacer" you are referring to(Bauer, Mission), and the stack of the floating spacer plus the two inner bearing races should always add up to 1.000". I believe that is supposed to be the industry standard. The space between the chassis "boss'" (the little shoulder inside the chassis where the axle or axle bolt goes through the chassis frames) should always be just slightly greater than an inch..like maybe 1.005". That is usually enough space to allow the wheel to clear the inside of the chassis bosses when mounting, and not get "pulled in" too far when the bolts are tightened.

Whether you are using the floating spacers or an inner axle assembly, they should always form a solid support between the chassis side frames, and help add strength to the chassis itself.

[alvinator 0]

Floating spaces make my bearings stick to the chassis of my Missions

which missions do you have? the more recent missions aren't supposed to be used with floating spacers.

yeah, i noticed that too...is there a reason why Mission doesn't use chassis with single axles?

[sdcopp 1]

A. single axle systems tend to strip out over time

B. floating spacers tend to have clicking issues. All of Mission's line and most of CCM/RBK line use sleeve spacers now.

[philatangy 0]

I was surprised today to find that my beemers, had floating spacers in some of the wheels, and no spacers on others. These skates were bought new by me. I put in mini bearings and put in no spacers...Seemed to skate fine today. Any reason I should not have done this?

[alvinator 0]

A. single axle systems tend to strip out over time

B. floating spacers tend to have clicking issues. All of Mission's line and most of CCM/RBK line use sleeve spacers now.

mmmmm, interesting.

My friend has an old pair of rollerblades with rockers that has single axles...they must be at least 5 years old and haven't had any problems (that i know of at least!)

Can you elaborate on the clicking issues? You mean it clicks when you tighten them? or is that the noise it makes when you skate on them?

[Sprungster 5]

A. single axle systems tend to strip out over time

B. floating spacers tend to have clicking issues. All of Mission's line and most of CCM/RBK line use sleeve spacers now.

The primary difference is that the long spacers fit on .250" steel axles, and the floaters fit on 8 mm aluminum axles.

If your skates are involved in the weight wars or care about weight at all, they're going to have 8 mm aluminum axles.

MDE3 is dead-on RE the specs. The 8 mm aluminum spacers are all over the place in specs, from one manufacturer to another. Because of the material used in the wheel cores, the specs on them are often off too. And the CNC machines get whacky on the aluminum chassis sometimes for a bit until adjusted.

After aluminum spacers went over $1.00 each in SoCal and you couldn't find them even then, I started having to skate without them sometimes. Definitely cuts down on the life of the spin.

None of this stuff is easy to make righton all the time because of the various manufacturing processes and materials used for the different parts. I've always felt that the wheel makers have the toughest job in the industry, because urethane is totally weird stuff and they're using two or three kinds of it together in one product.

And then there's the wear and tear that the aluminum axles get. If you don't get your hex wrench all the way down in the deeper hole (for strength) in the head, you'll strip out the hole and end up having to cut a slot into the head to get it out with a flat head screwdriver.

If you aren't careful getting the axle started into the chassis threads you'll strip the threads there and/or the axle threads. Then it's string or gum or whatever to fill the chassis threads so the axle will stay in.

I used the aluminum axles on Sprungs for the weight dif. And the chassis threads are nuts that can be replaced so the chassis isn't ruined if and when they get stripped. Still, lots of hex holes get stripped when skaters stick the hex wrench in a little way at an angle and crank away.

[MDE3 0]

Note there were really 2 different types of long spacers...one type which is actually an axle, and which is threaded so that you can secure it in place with bolts from both sides of the chassis (old Bauer system), and the long spacer which is used with a single long bolt which traverses the whole chassis, and fits inside the bearing races(old CCM chassis as well as a few others).

Note..these systems are not usually interchangeable, because the diameters of the mounting bolts are different, and some chassis are threaded on one side but not on the other. If a chassis was designed to be used with a floating spacer, the mounting bolt is 8mm in diameter. A through axle will have a mounting bolt of approx, 1/4" or 6 mm., or two short 6 mm bolts where the axle is threaded on both sides(some were 1/4" some were 6 mm). As a result, if the skate was designed for "floating spacers" use floating spacers...etc. etc. etc.

As to using a skate with no spacer of any kind, this is very poor practice. Basically you are loading up the bearing itself when you tighten the through bolts, as there is nothing in the center of the bearing and wheel assembly to pull against. This promotes premature bearing wear, binding bearings or if not tightened enough to "bind", the risk of wheels coming off during play when the loosely tightened axle bolt backs out.

These spacers are designed to form a solid "axle" through the center of the bearings so that the frames are actually tied together and supported by the axle assemblies, and form a "tube" on which the bearings may spin freely with minimal side to side movement. Chassis which are used without any spacers, will be much more prone to bending from shots, or cracking, because they are no longer supported by these 4 bridges which are integral to the design of the chassis.

Where extreme "clicking" occurs, the problem can be either the lack of a spacer at all, wrong kind of spacer, or that the wheel hub step..(the part which is a smaller diameter inside the wheel hub) may be overly short. As stated previously these steps should be .400" +.000" - .002"..If they are - .004" or more, then the wheel can "pop" back and forth noticeably inside the frames.

In any case the step inside the wheel hub should never be longer than the floating spacer, or the shoulder of a through axle. In extreme cases, this movement may actually allow the side of the wheels to touch the inner sides of the frames, although the boss' inside the chassis are usually greater than .004". thus preventing the wheel from ever coming too close the inside of the frames.