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Free-wheel puller tool...

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Old 12-05-11 | 05:58 AM
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Free-wheel puller tool...

...I used to have a heavy duty work bench with a vice embedded on the edge of it's top..that would be a great source to lock my free-wheel-nut puller into the jaws of the vice...'n then easily mount the wheel horizontally on the nut in the vice...grab the perimeter of the wheel...twist....and loosen/remove the free-wheel so that I could change/adjust spokes on the free-wheel side of that rear bike wheel.

I no longer have access to a work bench or a vice....but have the nut for free-wheel removal....'n need to find a way to avoid the $5 charge to pull a free-wheel that I typically have to pay a bike repair shop whenever I need to work on any of my rear-wheel spokes on the free-wheel side.

*****
My vision is a bar around 30" long(roughly the diameter of the wheel) that the nut socket on it is either located in the center of the bar....or can be slid from one or either end to the center of the bar that would hold the 1" hex nut...brace the unmounted wheel horizontally on my lap with the free-wheel side up...insert the nut in it's socket on the bar into the free-wheel seat for the nut with the nut socket on the bar centered...'n twist that free-wheel free from the rear wheel with the arm/shoulder/upper-torso torque applied by me.

My first efforts going to Sears and Home Depot to find such a socket device have been unfruitful. My next step is to find access to a Snap-on tool inventory....but that cannot be cheap.....help!
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Old 12-05-11 | 06:23 AM
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I just use a 12" Cresent wrench. Hold the wheel vertically with the freewheel to the right, put the wrench on the frewheel tool and push down. or you could get a breaker bar and 1" socket and do the same.
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Old 12-05-11 | 07:03 AM
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most tool companies make what you are looking for. its called a slide bar. the handle is kind of short though so slip some pipe on the ends. i like to use the vice method on shimano freewheels because they have deep splines. for the other types i lock the freewheel tool with the skewer or nut and use the box wrench or 18 in adjustable
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Old 12-05-11 | 08:33 AM
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Although I have a nice workbench with a large, sturdy vise, 99% of the time, I just remove them with a large breaker bar, or a 1 inch combination wrench. I only use the vise on the stubborn freewheels.
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Old 12-05-11 | 08:40 AM
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Common practice is to use the wheel's quick release skewer to hold the tool in place so it doesn't slip off. The qr should be almost tight, but not quite so the tool can unscrew a turn. Then remove the qr and continue unscrewing once it's broken loose.

If it's a non-qr wheel, put the nut over the tool to hold it in place. Either way, the tool should have a tiny bit of wiggle room before you apply power.
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Last edited by Homebrew01; 12-05-11 at 11:26 AM.
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Old 12-05-11 | 10:55 AM
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I use a 12" adjustable wrench and a rubber mallet. Engage the remover into the freewheel (as mentioned above, using the QR, if so equipped, can help hold the tool in place); lock the wrench onto the remover, push the wheel against the floor and wall; and give a couple of good whacks of the mallet on the wrench. This method has worked great even on 30 year old stuff dug out of a dumpster.
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Old 12-05-11 | 11:29 AM
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Yeah, before I had a bench vice I'd hold the tool on the wheel with the QR as described one post above, put a 12" adjustable wrench on the adaptor, hold the wheel vertically with the wrench toward me on the right side of the wheel and step on the wrench with my foot. Never failed. (It needs the tire on it with air in it to do it)
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Old 12-05-11 | 11:41 AM
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My long distance loaded touring bike has a freewheel type wheel,
I just borrowed the big adjustable spanner , from someone , as needed.
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Old 12-05-11 | 12:03 PM
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Originally Posted by bhchdh
I just use a 12" Cresent wrench. Hold the wheel vertically with the freewheel to the right, put the wrench on the frewheel tool and push down. or you could get a breaker bar and 1" socket and do the same.
I use a Crescent wrench, held in a Black & Decker Workmate bench. I can brace the bench with my legs while I turn the wheel.
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Old 12-05-11 | 12:09 PM
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You don't need to make or buy anything.

Use a long wrench, preferably 12-15". Put the wheel, with tire mounted and inflated, on the floor against a wall with the freewheel on the left, so that removing it would roll the wheel towards the wall. Stand over the wheel and set the wrench so the handle is horizontal or above pointing to the wall. Push down on the wrench, the wheel trapped in the corner, won't turn and the freewheel will come loose.

Don't forget to back off the nut or skewer immediately, before removing it once it's loose.
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Old 12-05-11 | 07:00 PM
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Originally Posted by CACycling
I use a 12" adjustable wrench and a rubber mallet. Engage the remover into the freewheel (as mentioned above, using the QR, if so equipped, can help hold the tool in place); lock the wrench onto the remover, push the wheel against the floor and wall; and give a couple of good whacks of the mallet on the wrench. This method has worked great even on 30 year old stuff dug out of a dumpster.
careful with using the impact hammer method. it will loosen the adjustable and it can slip. i also have a air powered impact gun and a set of deep sockets
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Old 12-08-11 | 04:39 PM
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Originally Posted by bhchdh
I just use a 12" Cresent wrench. Hold the wheel vertically with the freewheel to the right, put the wrench on the frewheel tool and push down. or you could get a breaker bar and 1" socket and do the same.
...I don't know what your physical size is that merely, with a crescent wrench, you can remove a freewheel....but I need a lot more leverage. A 'breaker' bar at least the diameter of the wheel...30 inches or so...that if the nut could be seated in the center of the bar, I could push from one end, pull from the other...and control the effort with much more certainty so that no damage would be done to either the tool or the seat on the wheel where it grabs the nut...

I want the driver interface with the nut to be at the center of the bar so that it will be much safer to apply the leverage, pushing and pulling from opposite ends of the bar at the same time.

Sears and Home Depot don't have anything that allows me to do that....I'm trying to contact a local Snap-On guy but haven't been able to get him to respond as yet...'n their web site doesn't lead me to graphical images that show me what I want...
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Old 12-08-11 | 04:45 PM
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Originally Posted by bentnhaf
I want the driver interface with the nut to be at the center of the bar so that it will be much safer to apply the leverage, pushing and pulling from opposite ends of the bar at the same time.
That really isn't necessary if you retain the freewheel puller tool with the qr skewer or axle nut. As long as the puller can't rock or pop out, leverage, even a lot of it, from one side won't hurt anything. I used to use a 15" Crescent wrench on Sun Tour (even two-prong) and Shimano freewheel pullers but I did lock them down with the qr skewer. i neve had a problem or damaged anything.
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