Freehub bearing relacement?

marcusww
marcusww Posts: 202
edited February 2014 in Workshop
I have American Classic Victory 30 wheels and the bearings in the freehub are shot. Has anyone removed sealed bearings from a freehub before and can it be done?
There are loads of maintenance docs on the am classic website but none describe removing the actual freehub bearings. The bearings are cheap to buy on their own in comparison to a whole new freehub.

Comments

  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    I've done it on a Campagnolo freehub. It was slightly fiddly (the inner bearing needed a hole drilling in the freehub body to extract a springclip (well, two holes as I missed with the first!) butit wasn't too hard otherwise and quite satisfying! £6 for the bearings and a fiver or so for a cheapo bearing pusher which I'll use again looks better than £50 or more for a new freehub.
    Faster than a tent.......
  • shmooster
    shmooster Posts: 335
    Done it on a Fulcrum 6 Shimano freehub (Spesh special), had to buy some circlip pliers to get the inner bearing out but wasn't too bad. Got the bearings cheap online. Cost me about a tenner all in i think, alternative was £80 for a new freehub.
  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    Should be OK on the AM Classic as the freehub arrangement is simple - so it's simply a case of drifting-out and replacing the bearings. Considered opinion is that Campagnolo is manageable and Shimano, apart from dunking in oil, there's little that's user serviceable.
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • marcusww
    marcusww Posts: 202
    Rolf F wrote:
    I've done it on a Campagnolo freehub. It was slightly fiddly (the inner bearing needed a hole drilling in the freehub body to extract a springclip (well, two holes as I missed with the first!) butit wasn't too hard otherwise and quite satisfying! £6 for the bearings and a fiver or so for a cheapo bearing pusher which I'll use again looks better than £50 or more for a new freehub.

    Thanks for all your replies - Rolf what is a bearing pusher?
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    Nothing more than a bolt, couple of thick nylon washers and a couple of metal washers. You thread the thing through the axle and tighten it up - the nylon washer pushes against the new bearing minimising any chance of stressing it.

    It's a bit Heath Robinson but it works well enough. You can make them yourself or source them from Ebay. I think they are advertise as headset bearing presses but if you can't find them yourself I can post a link this evening if someone else hasn't already done so.
    Faster than a tent.......
  • Chris87
    Chris87 Posts: 224
    Ive done it on the free hub for my fulcrum 5s.

    Getting them out can be a bugger, recommend spraying them with an aerosol/deodorant to get them nice and cold so they contract slightly then you can hammer them out (I just used a length of pipe that was small enough the pass through the middle)

    Also might be worth getting some spare pawl springs, mine disintegrated when i took it off to clean and degrease the pawls.

    When it comes to putting the new bearings in firstly put them in the fridge (while still in the sealed bags they usually come in) to get them nice and cold and make them shrink very very slightly, then give the free hub a blast with a high power hair dryer or heat gun to warm it up, this should allow the cold bearings to drop in with minimum effort, if you need to though use the old bearings on top of the new ones to hammer/clamp them into place.

    also don't forget the grease, lots of grease!

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