Freehub maintenance

(Michael) said:

Should a freehub require new lube ever? Should it proactively get new lube on occasion? Should it
be injected or taken apart, repacked and rebuilt like a hub?

D'you mean the wheel bearings, or the freehub freewheel bearings? The wheel bearings in a freehub
are just regular cup and cones as found in almost every hub, and need regreasing at the regular
intervals.

Jasper

There is a small device (at least I think there still is) called the "freehub buddy". It screws onto
the back of the freehub, You have to remove it fro the hub section first. It allows you to inject
grase directly into the freehub without dissassembly. Just squeeze until the dirty grease coming out
the other side is purged.

I believe it uses a regular grease gun with a zerk fitting. Maybe one of the bike shop owners of the
group can set you up.

May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear for the hills! Chris

Chris'Z Corner "The Website for the Common Bicyclist": geocities.comczcornerOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

Should a freehub require new lube ever? Should it proactively get new lube on occasion? Should it
be injected or taken apart, repacked and rebuilt like a hub?

Check out Sheldon Browns' article on freewheels and freehubs @ sheldonbrown.comk7.htmlOpen ↗
It doesn't take long to do if you have the proper tools and are careful not to lose any bearings.

Jim Toth

Chris Zacho The Wheelman said:

There is a small device (at least I think there still is) called the "freehub buddy". It screws
onto the back of the freehub, You have to remove it fro the hub section first. It allows you to
inject grase directly into the freehub without dissassembly. Just squeeze until the dirty grease
coming out the other side is purged.

I believe it uses a regular grease gun with a zerk fitting. Maybe one of the bike shop owners of
the group can set you up.

May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear for the hills! Chris

Chris'Z Corner "The Website for the Common Bicyclist": geocities.comczcornerOpen ↗

Not grease, heavy oil. I used to use 75w90 synthetic gear lube (that's what my Jeep takes, so I have
it on hand). Worked great. (Now I have a Chris King and don't worry about it 🙂).

David

michael-<< Should a freehub require new lube ever? Should it proactively get new lube on occasion?
Should it be injected or taken apart, repacked and rebuilt like a hub? >><BR><BR>

Cannot really take any shimano freehub 'apart'. Just take the seal off the underside, flush and
relube with OIL(NOT grease). I use Mobil One.

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St. Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 vecchios.comvecchios.comOpen ↗ "Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

Qui si parla Campagnolo said:

michael-<< Should a freehub require new lube ever? Should it proactively get new lube on occasion?
Should it be injected or taken apart, repacked and rebuilt like a hub? >><BR><BR>

Cannot really take any shimano freehub 'apart'.

Sure you can, I do it all the time. Well, not actually all the time, but once or twice a year - but
I don't see nearly as many wheels a shop mechanic does.

In addition to a pair of cone wrenches (to remove the axle) and a 10mm hex wrench (to remove the
freehub), only one additional tool is needed to disassemble the freehub. The freehub is disassembled
by simply unscrewing the main bearing cone via the two slots on its edge. There is a special Shimano
tool for this that costs about $15, but I generally use a 1 3/16" drag link socket, which I bought
for $7.50 from Sears:

sears.comproductsummary.jspOpen ↗
@@&BV_EngineID=ccegadcijdjhmfhcehgcemgdffmdflk.0&vertical=SEARS&bidsite=&pid=00944514000

Contrary to popular belief, when the you disassemble the the freehub, there aren't a bizillion
pieces that go flying every where - the only moving parts are the pawls, which are completely
retained by the circular spring (similar to the pawl and spring arrangement in the latest
Campagnolo freehub).

Once apart I can easily clean everything, and check the condition of the pawls. I generally replace
the bearing balls (1/8"😉 when I service the freehub.

Peter, I'm surprised you've never taken on apart.

Mark McMaster [email hidden]

"Mark McMaster" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Qui si parla Campagnolo wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Cannot really take any shimano freehub 'apart'.

Quoted message said:

Sure you can, I do it all the time. Well, not actually all the time, but once or twice a year -
but I don't see nearly as many wheels a shop mechanic does.

Quoted message said:

In addition to a pair of cone wrenches (to remove the axle) and a 10mm hex wrench (to remove the
freehub), only one additional tool is needed to disassemble the freehub. The freehub is
disassembled by simply unscrewing the main bearing cone via the two slots on its edge. There is a
special Shimano tool for this that costs about $15, but I generally use a 1 3/16" drag link
socket, which I bought for $7.50 from Sears:

A really big screwdriver does the job for me.

Quoted message said:

Contrary to popular belief, when the you disassemble the the freehub, there aren't a bizillion
pieces that go flying every where - the only moving parts are the pawls, which are completely
retained by the circular spring (similar to the pawl and spring arrangement in the latest
Campagnolo freehub).

Once apart I can easily clean everything, and check the condition of the pawls. I generally
replace the bearing balls (1/8"😉 when I service the freehub.

I've taken a couple of Shimano ones apart to "blueprint" them. A few years ago these things were so
sloppy when new that they wiggled, and I'm sure the play contributed to their early death. The play
is adjustable with shim washers.

After getting ones that didn't wiggle and flushing/relubing them occasionally, I haven't had any
problems. Before that I used to go through 1 or 2 a year. This is uneconomical, especially because
bike shops prefer to sell only the $35 XT ones. So it's definately worth flushing and relubing them
whenever you have your hubs apart.

I find they're best flushed from back to front, and relubed with heavy oil. I like Phil Wood oil --
it stays in place like grease, and does this even better than heavy gear oil. Grease gums up the
works, and can actually cause the pawls to stick.

Matt O.

Mark McMaster said:

Qui si parla Campagnolo said:

michael-<< Should a freehub require new lube ever? Should it proactively get new lube on
occasion? Should it be injected or taken apart, repacked and rebuilt like a hub? >><BR><BR>

Cannot really take any shimano freehub 'apart'.

Sure you can, I do it all the time. Well, not actually all the time, but once or twice a year -
but I don't see nearly as many wheels a shop mechanic does.

In addition to a pair of cone wrenches (to remove the axle) and a 10mm hex wrench (to remove the
freehub), only one additional tool is needed to disassemble the freehub. The freehub is
disassembled by simply unscrewing the main bearing cone via the two slots on its edge. There is a
special Shimano tool for this that costs about $15, but I generally use a 1 3/16" drag link
socket, which I bought for $7.50 from Sears:

sears.comproductsummary.jspOpen ↗
@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccegadcijdjhmfhcehgcemgdffmdflk.0&vertical=SEARS&bidsite=&pid=00944514000

Contrary to popular belief, when the you disassemble the the freehub, there aren't a bizillion
pieces that go flying every where - the only moving parts are the pawls, which are completely
retained by the circular spring (similar to the pawl and spring arrangement in the latest
Campagnolo freehub).

Once apart I can easily clean everything, and check the condition of the pawls. I generally
replace the bearing balls (1/8"😉 when I service the freehub.

Peter, I'm surprised you've never taken on apart.

Mark McMaster [email hidden]

I made my own tool with a bench grinder and an old 1/4" extension. I used to reshim mine to get rid
of the wobble, but I used a bearing buddy to do the actual lubing.

David

Quoted message said:

michael-<< Should a freehub require new lube ever? Should it proactively

get

Quoted message said:

new lube on occasion? Should it be injected or taken apart, repacked and rebuilt like a hub? >>

"Qui si parla Campagnolo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...> Cannot really take any shimano freehub
'apart'. Just take the seal off the

Quoted message said:

underside, flush and relube with OIL(NOT grease). I use Mobil One.

"Cannot"? Huh? The Shimano cassette body tool fits all models from the mid-seventies through
current models. But once you open the cassette body, there's nothing to do in there. Flushing
without opening is excellent advice. When there are cracked pawls, repairing these seems a
temporary fix so a new body is a better idea. Agree that grease is a poor choice. Oil won't cause
pawls to stick open.

--
Andrew Muzi yellowjersey.orgyellowjersey.orgOpen ↗ Open every day since 1 April 1971

"A Muzi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

michael-<< Should a freehub require new lube ever? Should it proactively

get

Quoted message said:

new lube on occasion? Should it be injected or taken apart, repacked and rebuilt like a hub? >>

"Qui si parla Campagnolo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...> Cannot really take any shimano freehub
'apart'. Just take the seal off the

Quoted message said:

underside, flush and relube with OIL(NOT grease). I use Mobil One.

"Cannot"? Huh? The Shimano cassette body tool fits all models from the mid-seventies through
current models. But once you open the cassette body, there's nothing to do in there. Flushing
without opening is excellent advice. When there are cracked pawls, repairing these seems a
temporary fix so a new body is a better idea. Agree that grease is a poor choice. Oil won't cause
pawls to stick open.

A "Freehub Buddy" is a really quick & efficient way to do this. You do not have to remove the
ffreehub body. Much better than trying to driddle solvent and / or lube in, because it forces the
solvent / lube into the entire body.

John