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-   -   Freewheel Rebuilding? (https://www.bikeforums.net/bicycle-mechanics/164001-freewheel-rebuilding.html)

twinsdad93 01-03-06 09:54 PM

Freewheel Rebuilding?
 
I have a 15 yr old Klein Quantum that is the most awsome bike...it's like riding on air it is so smooth. I recently had problems with the chain jumping off the freewheel so I had a bike shop order me a new one. It's a Shimano 6 speed...but it is very noisy clicking while riding and coasting. My old freewheel I had taken apart years ago and packed with teflon grease and new bearings and it rotated smooth as silk...with no noise whatsoever. I loved it...it was the quietest bike...I could sneak up on people and they wouldn't hear me coming. Truely awsome for a 15 yr old bike to be quieter than a 10 speed new one.

Anyways, I've tried to take the new freewheel apart to pack it with grease but I can't get the darn thing apart. I've got the right tool, I know there must have been some trick that I had done years ago to get my old freewheel apart, I just can't remember it.

Any Bike Mechanics out there with any tricks or hints about taking a freewheel apart to rebuild it? Thanks, Twinsdad93

AfterThisNap 01-03-06 10:42 PM

the eaisest thing to do would be to just drip some triflow between the freehub body and the cogs as you spin it by hand.

ctp 01-04-06 12:22 AM

or use a Stein freewheel injector. I wish I could find mine :(

http://www.jastein.com/Tools_for_Wheels.htm

Deanster04 01-04-06 01:04 AM

Freewheels are intrinsically more noisey than the cassette hub bodies. Triflo is a reasonable solution. Another is to clean the free hub in solvent. Blow it out with an air gun. Heat up some oil 90 wt or greater and let it seep into the freewheel. Cool it down and wipe it clean.
Nah! Just use Triflow or some reasonable eqiuvalent and add a little when the noise gets too loud for you. The above method was how it was done in ancient times.

HillRider 01-04-06 07:50 AM

The plate that covers the front of the freewheel between the stationary core and the rotating parts, and has two dimples in it for a pin spanner, is left-hand threaded.

TallRider 01-04-06 09:13 AM

Or just get a new 6-speed freewheel off eBay. They're not very expensive, and chances are some of the teeth on your current freewheel are worn anyway.

white lobster 01-04-06 12:53 PM

I'm not convinced that a completely quiet freewheel is a good thing. If you put too much grease in there, the pawls may stick, in which case you'll be freewheeling in both directions. Dripping Tri-Flo in there won't make the pawls stick, but it probably won't quiet things down much either.

When you do manage to get this thing apart (Hilrider is right ... LH threaded lockring), be careful to grease only the bearing races and little rounded corner where the pawls sit.

Otherwise, have fun. It's kind of a neat job, as long as you don't lose any of those tiny bearings.

Sheldon Brown 01-04-06 03:18 PM


Originally Posted by twinsdad93
Any Bike Mechanics out there with any tricks or hints about taking a freewheel apart to rebuild it? Thanks, Twinsdad93

Yes: don't!

But if you must, see: http://sheldonbrown.com/freewheels

Sheldon "Not Worth The Trouble" Brown
Code:

+-----------------------------------------------------+
|  Once more upon the waters! yet once more!        |
|  And the waves bound beneath me as a steed        |
|  That knows his rider. Welcome to their roar!      |
|  Swift be their guidance, wheresoe'er it lead!    |
|  Though the strain'd mast should quiver as a reed, |
|  And the rent canvas fluttering strew the gale,    |
|  Still must I on; for I am as a weed,              |
|  Flung from the rock, on Ocean's foam to sail      |
|  Where'er the surge may sweep,                    |
|      the tempest's breath prevail.                  |
|    --Lord Byron      Child Harold's Pilgrimage    |
+-----------------------------------------------------+


AfterThisNap 01-05-06 03:55 PM

the man has spoken!
Really, freewheels are such a PITA to work on once you get them apart that anything aside from dripping lube into the prawls is overkill. Triflow may actually quitet the freewheel down despite freeing things up in there.

Gonzo Bob 01-05-06 05:05 PM

So what is your original freewheel? You may be able to get new cogs for it at www.loosescrews.com . I have a Shimano 6-speed from 1986 that I kept going by replacing the worn cogs (the two middle ones).

AfterThisNap 01-05-06 06:25 PM

nothing is wrong with his freewheel. It's new. Just noisy.

ctp 01-05-06 07:06 PM


Originally Posted by Sheldon Brown
Yes: don't!


We actually do rebuild them up in the desert every year as a last resort. That's why I try to bring as many spare freewheels as I can before I head up. They can be fun to rebuild when you have nothing to lose, and a bit of time on your hands...and a super cute young lady depending on you to keep her rolling for the week doesn't hurt either. :)

dooley 01-05-06 07:53 PM

Freewheels aren't that difficult to rebuild. Like anything once you've done it a few times it's a piece of piss.

My tip for rebuilding is to assemble it with the pawls and spring in place. Leave the lock ring pretty loose, push the centre through the body towards the back, feed the bearings through the gap, turn it over, undo the lockring, do the outbound bearings, voila.


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