[Tbone]

First of all, Merry Christmas to yall!

I posted this on the drivetrain forum but it doesnt' look like it gets a whole lot of action. This is the forum where I like to spend my time anyway and know many of you are pretty keen with the wrench so...

I have a Shimano Deore disc rear hub (cheapo I know but would like t keep it going if I can) that's catching while the tire coasts as well as making a moaning sound. The axle bearings feel smoth and have had proper tension. Replacing a freehub body is about the only thing I haven't done on a bike. Anyone know how to get some step by steps on how to do it as well as what tools to use? Is this something better left to the LBS??

Oh yeah, and is the repair going to be more expensive than the hubs?


Thanksfor any help!

 

[b12yan88]

it varies from hub to hub as most of the manufacturers will have slightly different designs even among the regular needle ratchet kind. Similarly the process needed to open the free hub body will be different as well. If you think the hub is actually broken, then i'd just go ahead and replace it as thhat thing is pretty cheap. If you think it's okay then you should wait for someone who knows how to open that thing to fix it

 

[shiggy]

http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=45

 

[pacman]

Option #1

First of all, Merry Christmas to yall!

I posted this on the drivetrain forum but it doesnt' look like it gets a whole lot of action. This is the forum where I like to spend my time anyway and know many of you are pretty keen with the wrench so...

I have a Shimano Deore disc rear hub (cheapo I know but would like t keep it going if I can) that's catching while the tire coasts as well as making a moaning sound. The axle bearings feel smoth and have had proper tension. Replacing a freehub body is about the only thing I haven't done on a bike. Anyone know how to get some step by steps on how to do it as well as what tools to use? Is this something better left to the LBS??

Oh yeah, and is the repair going to be more expensive than the hubs?

Thanksfor any help!

Get a Freehub Buddy for injecting grease. Google it.

 

[MendonCycleSmith]

If you have overhauled the hub, meaning, pulled the axle out, cleaned, greased, re-installed and ridden happily, you can do this, easily. With the axle out, look down into the freehub. You will see a multi point star patten on the hole at the bottom of the hub body. This is for a 10mm allen wrench. Standard righty tighty thread, crack it off, and replace with an exact model for your hub. This is important, as Shimano changes seal designs as often as most of us change underwear. Just get your hub model # M760, M550,whatever, and use that to order a freehub body. Rebolt, repack, ride, smile. If you have not done a repack, follow Shiggys' lead. Peace, happy Holidays!

 

[Tracerboy]

You haven't lived untill you've disassembled and overhauled a freehub body. It's slightly more fun than a single speed freewheel. The silent clutch freehubs are kinda neat to see the inside of.

If you get a freehub buddy make sure you also get the appropriate replaceable dust shield (also made by Morningstar).

 

[klydesdale]

If you get a freehub buddy make sure you also get the appropriate replaceable dust shield (also made by Morningstar).

In my experience, the Morningstar freehub cap isn't a necessity if you use care in removing the existing dust shield. I made a little hook style tool (similar to the one also available from Morningstar) from an old spoke which allows me to pull the existing dust shield out easily without damaging it. And reinstalling it is no big deal. I was going through my parts bin the other day and came across a Morningstar FH Cap that I bought when I got my Freehub Buddy several years ago. I've just never seen the need to use it. I should install it just to see how it works when I do the freehub buddy thing on the XT hub on the latest set of snow wheels I built up.

 

[Tbone]

Thanks!

Thanks for your replies. I picked up the new freehub today - hope it will be an uneventful overhaul. From the links and the info you gave, it looks less intimidating than I imagined.

T

 

[MightySchmoePong]

According to sheldon browns site...

If you have overhauled the hub, meaning, pulled the axle out, cleaned, greased, re-installed and ridden happily, you can do this, easily. With the axle out, look down into the freehub. You will see a multi point star patten on the hole at the bottom of the hub body. This is for a 10mm allen wrench. Standard righty tighty thread, crack it off, and replace with an exact model for your hub. This is important, as Shimano changes seal designs as often as most of us change underwear. Just get your hub model # M760, M550,whatever, and use that to order a freehub body. Rebolt, repack, ride, smile. If you have not done a repack, follow Shiggys' lead. Peace, happy Holidays!

Almost all of the freehubs are interchangeable. I just swapped a freehub from a mid to late 90's hub I had laying around onto my new XT disk hub. Works perfectly and it was dead simple.

Dave

 

[MendonCycleSmith]

Almost all of the freehubs are interchangeable. I just swapped a freehub from a mid to late 90's hub I had laying around onto my new XT disk hub. Works perfectly and it was dead simple.

Dave

True enough, in that it will bolt on, but a number of them have different diameter holes through the plastic shield/cap. As such, they may not match up with your seals resulting in less than ideal sealing. That said, well packed with grease, you'd be fine, but seeing as he has a late model hub, why not get the "matcher" = All you guys using the morning star re greasers, how do you like them in the cold? Any issues, I used one years ago, love the idea, but being in the cold north, it sucked once below freezing. Cheers!

 

[klydesdale]

True enough, in that it will bolt on, but a number of them have different diameter holes through the plastic shield/cap. As such, they may not match up with your seals resulting in less than ideal sealing. That said, well packed with grease, you'd be fine, but seeing as he has a late model hub, why not get the "matcher" = All you guys using the morning star re greasers, how do you like them in the cold? Any issues, I used one years ago, love the idea, but being in the cold north, it sucked once below freezing. Cheers!

The idea when using the Morningstar freehub buddy in prepping a freehub for cold conditions is not to "regrease" but rather to flush the grease out of the hub and use a lighter weight lube. Morningstar actually offers their own "Freehub Soup" lube mix for temps of 32 degrees and below. I've had good luck simply just injecting a little synthetic oil into an XT freehub on my snow wheels. It mixed with the grease that was already in there, thinning it out.

 

[pimpbot]

Shimano is pretty easy...

Shimano hubs have a 10mm (wrench size) hollow allen bolt holding it to the alloy hub body. Just remove the axle and loose ball bearings, and remove the bolt to clean/replace/whatever.

Once removed, I usually service it by dunking it and rinsing it out in solvent, rinsing it in Dawn dishsoap to remove the solvent traces, then lube with manual transmission oil (like 75-90 wt) or DuMonde Tech Liquidgrease. It will weep some of it out for a few days afterwards, but it will run buttery smooth for a long time afterwards.

If it's hanging up, look for debris wraped around the hub behind the cassette and check the bearing on the freehub body behind where it mounts to the hub. Sometimes there is a seal on this bearing, but not always.

 

[Tracerboy]

In my experience, the Morningstar freehub cap isn't a necessity if you use care in removing the existing dust shield.

You must be a gentle lover. Those steel dust shields always deform when I yank them out.

I like the having the morningstar cap in there for easy access to the freehub body's bearing race, anyway. They're prettier, too. What freehub couldn't use a little gussying up?