Slipping freehub

Steve · Post by **Steve** » 7 Jan 2008, 10:18pm

What can I do about a my Shimano freehub which has started slipping? I am kicking myself. Thought I'd be clever & changed the bearings & cones when they started to get a bit pitted, but the new grease must have worked its way into the pawls as they are now sticking. Am giving it a bath of degreaser but then how should I re-lubricate it afterwards? With a light oil rather than grease I think.

Steve · Post by **Steve** » 8 Jan 2008, 11:12am

I've heard it's possible to dismantle (& reassemble!) a freehub. Anyone know how?

DaveP · Post by **DaveP** » 8 Jan 2008, 11:43am

I think Sheldon has something about it, but I have to say I wouldnt bother. They are, apparently trickier to reassemble than a freewheel because of the extra depth. I would bite the bullet and try to replace it! They arent that expensive - if you can find the right one.
However it is worth trying a good soak if its bunged up with new grease as you suspect or if its just the original grease thats dried out a bit. I wouldnt, personally, use a degreaser, because this will most likely leach out oils leaving the sticky soapy portion of the grease behind, which is the opposite to what you want! I'd pop it in a jam jar and cover with a lightish oil - something between 3 in 1 and engine oil if poss - and leave for a few days. You might be able to carefully remove a rubber seal to help penetration. And at this time of year, I would bring it inside the house to keep warm - cold oil is rather uncooperative!.Dont forget to allow it to drain afterwards!
HTH

MLJ · Post by **MLJ** » 8 Jan 2008, 11:43am

When the freehub is greased, a new seal has to be fitted. Some cycle shops have the necessary syringe greaser and spares for doing this, without which it will probably not be successful. The charge for this service is usually fairly small.

reohn2 · Post by **reohn2** » 8 Jan 2008, 5:24pm

New freehub (under £20) is the answer, I wouldn't risk it,cold wet wind swept roads and long walks spring to mind :0(

downsman · Post by **downsman** » 8 Jan 2008, 7:30pm

I've just had this problem, and when the replacement took rather a long time to come, I decided to have a go.

Mine was a Shimano RM30 freehub. The information on this page:

http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=118

was quite helpful. However with my freehub there wasn't a seal at the back to remove. The hardest part was to remove the dust cover, this is what Park tools say:

NOTE: Do not attempt to pry out right side dust cap from Shimano® freehubs. Damage may result

The way I did it was to put a very large headed screw in a vise. Place the head behind the dust cover inside the freehub, and very gently hammer the freehub body while rotating it. It soon came loose and was undamaged.

Next you need to undo the bearing cone, and will have to make a tool from some scrap steel plate. This is a left hand thread, so be careful.

Once you've got this far, you'll have 40 odd ball bearings on the table, just clean and reassemble. I put grease on the ball races and oil on the pawls, but I'm not sure I did the right thing.

To replace the dust cover place a long bolt through the freehub with a large washer over the dust cap and carefully pull the cover into it's original position.

I hope this helps

JohnW · Post by **JohnW** » 8 Jan 2008, 9:20pm

reohn2 wrote:New freehub (under £20) is the answer, I wouldn't risk it,cold wet wind swept roads and long walks spring to mind :0(

Steve - this guy talks sense - there's nothing like experience.

You can strip a freehub down, polish all the bits, re-grease (carefully and slightly sparingly) and re-assemble (patience trying - you'd need Patience Strong, believe me), and if you got it right, you'd save £20ish. Get it wrong, and you're into r2's scenario and £20 wasn't worth saving.

I'm with r2.

JohnW.

Post by **Mick F** » 8 Jan 2008, 9:38pm

Sounds right to me too, though I've never stripped a freehub down. Freewheels yes, but never a freehub.

(asks innocently) ..... Are Shimano different to Campag?
I ask because the instructions for Campag seem straightforward enough, but as I've never done it, I don't actually know.

PW · Post by PW » 8 Jan 2008, 9:48pm

I have one which malfunctioned like this after being ridden through last years floods. I replaced it - the cheapest way is to buy a disc specific Deore hub & strip it for spares - then soaked the old one with WD40 until it started working again, then put it in an oilbath made from a margarine tub. It's been there ever since apart from when I checked to see how smooth it was. It will rise again but only on the short distance hack bike.

Steve · Post by **Steve** » 8 Jan 2008, 10:00pm

Hm, perhaps I won't take it to bits after all, & think a good soak in oil will be enough restore it. The degreaser got things moving inside again so now I just want to make sure it doesn't seize with rust instead. Interestingly, the dust cap which shouldn't be removed just came adrift of its own accord.

But I wonder how I should stop grease from the hub bearings getting into it in future.

downsman · Post by **downsman** » 8 Jan 2008, 11:32pm

I'm not convinced that the hub grease was the cause.

My freehub stopped working after 18 months, and the hubs were untouched. I found they used a very sticky grease to assemble it and I think the cold weather stuck the pawls in place by making the grease stickier. I didn't find any evidence that grease was entering the unit from the wheel bearing.

I was happy to ride 40 miles on my rebuilt freehub last Sunday, so they can be rebuilt, but it certainly is easier to buy new

wrangler_rover · Post by **wrangler_rover** » 10 Jan 2008, 9:29pm

I had a slipping freehub, I cured it by puuring plenty of turps into it, a horrible brown rusty coloured liquid came out. Then I poured plenty of oil, (car engine oil 10-40) into it and have ridden it since without any slipping.

bodach · Post by **bodach** » 12 Jan 2008, 8:23pm

I had freehub problem and soaked in paraffin for a few days then left to dry for a week. No probs since

twicewithchips · Post by **twicewithchips** » 18 Jan 2008, 10:09pm

Mick F - I've found the campag one's pretty easy to rebuild - the tricky bit is getting your bit of thread back once you've got the pawls in place (as was the case with freewheels). The only trouble is the balls are different sizes in the drive and non drive sides, and I keep forgetting to write down which is which.