Originally Posted by
boneshaker78
Well..🙄… after messing around with the pawls for a bit and the retaining ring it would seem that the pawls are hardly moving at all now and when installed in the hub shell nothing is engaging. It would make sense that 3rd might not be engaging if the pawl is unable to spring back into position properly. The question is why? What could cause this pawl to hang up like this? Did I misshapen the retaining ring? Is there damage to the body of the hub where the pawl sits? Is a pawl damaged?
I don’t think the pawls are damaged, they appear fine. The groove they sit in is a bit inconsistent on one side and it’s clear that one side isn’t springing back like the other, however, after messing with it some, neither side is springing back well. It leads me to believe the retaining ring might not be as round or robust as it once was from me removing it too much.
One thing is for certain… this is definitely one of the causes of the issues I’m encountering.
I think the diagnosis is accurate.
The high speed pawls (which is another name for the pawls on the ring gear) only engage the ratchets in gears 4 thru 7. For gears 1 thru 3, the ring gear is shifted endways and the pawls are taken out of engagement with the ratchets.
This differs from the Sturmey Archer design that has tails on the ring gear pawls that are retracted from behind by the clutch.
When the pawls are disengaged from the ratchets, they run on a delrin ring inside the hub shell. Some models did not have the ring but I think most do.
The pawl spring needs to be fairly strong. I would check the sockets where the pawls seat for debris or burrs and also for any irregularities on the seat portion of the pawls and polish them up a bit.