Methods and apparatus for releasably supporting a vehicle wheel assembly

A tension adjustment system for adjusting tension in an axle of a vehicle, said tension adjustment system comprising:

• a component part of said vehicle comprising an axle nut receiving portion;
• and
• an axle nut, wherein said axle nut includes an index contour surface and said axle nut receiving portion includes a mating contour surface whereby an inter-engaged index contour surface and mating contour surface maintain said axle nut and said receiving portion in a relative rotational orientation;
• a positional retainer engaged between said receiving portion and said axle nut and restricting axial movement of said axle nut relative to said receiving portion, whereby upon moving said positional retainer said axle nut may be at least partly disengaged from said component part, rotated to a different rotational position of a plurality of predefined rotational positions, and re-engaged relative to said component part, whereby a resulting variable relative rotational orientation facilitates tension adjustment in said axle;
• and
• a cam operating lever operatively connected to an end of said axle such that, said cam operating lever, when in an open position, is freely rotatable about an axle axis and relative to said component part and when said axle is engaged with said axle nut, closure of said cam operating lever completes said tension adjustment.

A method of fabricating an axle fork assembly comprising:

• mounting a rotary-type connector at a first end of an axle, said rotary-type connector configured to be removably coupled with an axle nut, said axle nut configured to be received by an axle nut receiving portion of a vehicle, said axle nut comprising:
• a plurality of protrusions on an external surface thereof, said plurality of protrusions indicating a plurality of predefined rotational positions corresponding to a plurality of predefined tensions, each of said predefined plurality of rotational positions being a position at which said axle nut is held in place in said component part of said vehicle;
• a positional adjustment portion configured for enabling said axle nut to be at least partly withdrawn from said component part, rotated to a different rotational position of said plurality of predefined rotational positions, and re-inserted into said component part, whereby re-insertion into said component part causes tension adjustment in said axle;
• and
• mounting on a second end of said axle a lever-operated cam assembly comprising a lever mounted on a second end of said axle, said lever being rotatable between an open position in which said axle is removable from or mountable on said vehicle and a closed position in which said axle is retained on said vehicle, wherein said lever has a closed position in which a substantial portion of said lever occupies a position relative to an adjacent vehicle component such that a portion less than a whole of said lever protrudes laterally from said vehicle, said lever-operated cam assembly comprising a lever stop ensuring that an angle of maximum rotation for said lever from said closed position is less than 180 degrees.