Purpose of the wheel spacers?

[BillyRok]

I took the wheels off a bike several months ago to replace bearings and now can't for the life of me find the set of spacers and flanges the fit inside the wheels between the bearings...curious as to their purpose and whether they are absolutely required? I do have another set that I acquired but the flange for the rear is a bit squashed and the spacer for the front is burred up inside so that the axle won't go through it, somebody must have got a little violent in removing them.

[motoman]

When axle nut is tightened, the longer inner wheel spacers tighten up against the wheel bearing inner races, as do the outer spacers so as to keep that inner bearing race from rotating.....VERY important to have all those spacers correctly located and in place!. BTW, good hearing from you again!

[mack]

Billy

Motoman is right, you NEED all those parts. That's why I got my LH so cheap. The last owner didn't put them in the left side and riding the bike was something to be feared. If you can't find your get a hold of Andreas. He probably has boxes of them.