>slippage and by helping to transmit torque from the axle to the wheel.
>Probably doesn't eliminate it completely, thought.
>
Regardless of the radial expansion, the splines are not a perfect fit.
There will, by definition, be a LITTLE (fraction of a whatever)
clearence between the splines when new. So, at each acceleration and
braking the wheel is capable of rocking a little. The rocking will
hammer the splines, and slowly the gaps between the splines will
increase, causing more hammering. The snowball is now rolling.
Tightening the wheel beyond a certain point really does not prevent this, as the force is normally transmitted via the splines. Tightening attempts to cause some of the torque to be transmitted via the friction between the ends of the wheel hub and the axle (which I doubt really happens), but does not tighten the splines. Tightening a taper joint helps, but these splines are not tapered (are they???).
There may be something in tightening beyond normal, as it causes the wheel to remain centered around the axle (ends of hub are tapered), but I doubt this prevents wear.
Thats my one cents worth. Now lets get the real answer from an expert.
John - Alpine IV