Dial Indicator Mounts For Bike Wheel Truing Stand (West Biking compatible)

Compatibility:

• Compatible with 100-155 mm over locknut dimension hubs.

• Compatible with the blue WEST BIKING Bicycle Wheel Truing Stand.

• Compatible with DIY stands made from steel L-shaped angle bars if you make the holes in the right places :)

• Compatible with up to 50 mm external rim width with 100-mm front hubs. Thicker Fatbike rims (up to 80-95 mm) can be used with 135-mm+ hubs but these were not tested as I don't have any.

Additional stuff required:

Dial indicators - 2pcs. I used the cheapest Chinese NoName ones sold in orange paper boxes on aliexpress - their precision is more than enough for wheels truing. The producer is stated to be "WUJIANG DUNNEX TOOLS", but it doesn't really matter. I've got another "YUJIN" indicator with a flat back, it has the same size and also fits well. I consider +/- 0.4 mm difference to be fine for my wheels - you can never reach 0 mm deviation anyway so there is no need to buy expensive indicators. The indicator's specs: The mount hole diameter is 8 mm, the scale diameter is 58.2 mm (max). The depth is 24.8 mm (45 mm including the back mount which is not used in my scheme).

M5 bolts with hexagonal heads*:
L10 - 2pcs to fix indicators.
L30 - 2pcs to fix indicator mounts.
L20 - 1pc to fix the adapter.
L20 - 2pcs to fix the bottom line.
M5 nuts - one per every bolt mentioned.

* - I've cut all the bolts to required size from longer bolts that I had because I don't have a retail shop with bolts nearby and it's expensive to order just a few bolts of various sizes - the shipping fee will be much more than the price of these bolts :) If you don't have any bolts at home, it's cheaper to order a pack of bolts of the same size, for example M5x30 and cut them as described above.

Print recommendations:

• Initially I printed it from PETG, but the bottom line was not rigid enough. I re-printed the bottom line and the adapter from PLA (100% infill) and it feels much more rigid and preferable here as it bends less which is important for measurement precision. But PLA is also more fragile and has worse layer adhesion, so don't screw the fixing bolts too hard if you use the indicator mounts from PLA. Finally I decided to use the bottom line and the adapter from PLA as they suffer from bending the most, and the indicator mounts from PETG as they don't bend anyway because of their small size and they withstand higher bolt tightening torque.

• Slow speed = high precision and good adhesion. 40-50 mm/s is just perfect even if your printer can print faster.

• Avoid any seams on dovetail joints to make them slide easily. There is only 0.2 mm gap to all the sides, so there is no place for any ugly seams inside! First run it may be difficult to move the mounts along the bottom line - it's OK - there may be some excess of plastic in places. Move them 10-20 times to and fro, and they will move perfectly (use silicone spray if needed). In fact, I didn't want to make the gap larger for easier movement because the adapters should not be loose - it will drastically reduce the precision of measurements.

• The bottom line can be printed on Ender3 bed at a diagonal orientation (rotate 45 degrees).

• 35 mm rims or less with 100 mm hubs -> print upper-indicator-adapter.stl - it is more rigid and preferable.
  35-50 mm rims with 100 mm hubs -> print upper-indicator-adapter-narrow.stl.
  60+ mm rims (Fatbikes) with 135+mm hubs -> print upper-indicator-adapter.stl.

Controlling the deviation without removing the tires.

This is not a typical way of truing because it's not possible to check the "egg" without removing tires. But sometimes we want to make a fast check of side deviations without removing the tires, so this may be useful... Note that the bottom indicator should be moved aside or completely removed during such checks.

1. Print "upper-indicator-adapter-L120mm", it compensates the tire height. It may be less rigid at the top height though, so I recommend PLA with 100% infill.

2. If your tires are too wide (2.3" and more), you will most likely need an extender for your dial indicator. There are metal extenders of some standard lengths for sale (20, 40, 60, 80 mm...) , but I've made a plastic extender for 10 mm ("upper-indicator-cap-10mm.stl") and this seems to be enough for the most typical tires.

29" tires solution (blue West Biking stand only).

The standard model works fine if you fix the rims without tires. But 29 inch tires will most likely touch the bottom line if you use the West Biking stand. As I use 29 inch tires, I've made a little mod to check the wheels with tires.

Note that you can always remove all this 3D-printed assembly and install the dial indicator into the mount that goes with the West Biking stand! You will need to buy (or print) a length extender for the indicator though, as the standard one is too short. In this case the max tire diameter compatible with this stand is ~800 mm.

With the standard 3D assembly you can install the wheels with ~695 mm tire diameter (27.3 inch).

The following solutions are for those who are too lazy to unscrew 2 bolts to remove the assembly all the time... Here is the "to do" list from the most simple to the most complicated solution:

1. It's obvious that reducing the pressure from the tires will reduce their height, so you can win a few millimeters without doing anything else - maybe it will be enough for some road 28 inch tires.

2. Print "bottom-line-nut-29inch.stl". These nuts don't have horizontal limiters and allow to lower the bottom line down to 12 mm more. If the back of the bottom dial indicator have a mount, unscrew the back lid and screw it back so that the position of the mount is changed from vertical to horizontal. Now the compatible tire diameter is 720 mm - this is enough to check the rims with 28 inch road tires.

3. Print 2x "hub-axis-rasers-1p4mm.stl" and 2x "hub-axis-rasers-1p6mm". They are glued from 2 parts (1.4mm +1.6 mm =3.0mm). Before gluing, make sure it's really 3 mm in total - it's important that it's no more than 3 mm: the QR should put the force on the metal frame but not on the plastic inside, otherwise you won't get a rigid grip. Insert them into the axis holes of the stand (they can be removed when not needed). They allow to raise the hub axis 11.5 mm more, so the max tire diameter is 743 mm now. This is enough to fit my 29x2.25 CST Patrol tire (including a 5 mm safety gap), so this is where I stopped :)

4. [EXPERIMENTAL - NOT TESTED IN REAL LIFE] It's possible to reduce the bottom line 18 mm more. Print "bottom-line-29inch.stl". Basically, it is the standard bottom line with the possibility to lower it as much as possible in this West Biking stand. As it is less rigid than the original, I kept the original holes as well to be used when the measurements are done without tires. If the back of the dial indicators have a mount, you will have to replace the back lids with flat ones (there are 3D models of it in this site). Maximal theoretic tire diameter that will not touch the bottom line (5 mm gap) with all the mods including this one is ~780 mm (30.7 inch).