Taking apart a freewheel is more trouble than it is worth not to mention that there are 23 1/8" bearings in the back and 9 or 11 more 3/16 bearings in the front - any they all fall out at the same time. Don't ask how I know.

The best thing to do if you have a sluggish, gungy freewheel is to soak it overnight in Odorless mineral spirits (solvent) or if you have access to a parts washer run the solvent over so it washes through the bearings, pawls, etc. Slosh it around real good. Then let the thing dry thoroughly. I let my complex parts just sit in the sun on the driveway for a couple of hours. After this when you spin it, it should sound clean but dry. Now put in the lubricant. My absolute all-time favorite for lubricating freewheels and free hubs is Chain-L No.5 (a play on Chanel No.5, the perfume). This stuff ain't cheap but it is perfect for lubricating the bearings and pawls without clogging them up. It is about as viscous as honey and you put your freewheel small-cog down (on newspapers or corrugated, you don't want this stuff to soak into your concrete floor) and lay on a ring of oil on the small gap between the cogs and the core. Let it soak through (a few minutes) and do this again twice more. Leave it for 12 hours. There will be a pool of oil where it rests on the paper and just the right amount inside. Spin it and the pawls will be nearly silent. This stuff won't gum up the pawls like grease but give better lubrication than "regular" oil or even wet chain lube. DON'T use dry chain lube (wax based), WD-40 (it is NOT a lubricant, it is a preservative), or Boeshield T-7 (too thin). Remember to heavily grease the threads of the freewheel AND the hub before screwing it on. Any extra will just squeeze out. You can destroy a hub trying to remove a frozen freewheel. You don't have to tighten it more than hand tight. Riding it will tighten it more and using a wrench to screw it on will just make it harder to remove in the future.

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