formula freehub body replacement for FM32 hub

shmeely

this may be years too late because most bicycles have better hubs however if I can help someone out my pleasure. I have a 2017 trek FX3 . at the time of purchase I did not know all that much about servicing my bike. this has changed since then because of the BS I was experiencing taking it in for service. And they call them selves pro mechanics etc. I was in a trek store for a tune up. took him all of 5 minutes. he did not even clean the chain. he over tightened the head set. so I said great tune up how about the dirty chain. he sold me a can of much off and chain lube by WD40 ( smells too much not using anymore) so even though I was nervous I went ahead and sprayed the drive train down and rinsed it off. lubed etc. with lots of help from You Tube. about a week later I heard a clicking noise and so I got into the hub for first time. the grease was pristine however some cleaner may have got past the cup into the freehub ; or the grease inside just got too dry.. however I felt a notch in the freehub. so I wanted to remove it to get some lube into it from the back side. At the time I did not own a 12 mm Allen key so I went to the bike shop and he couldn't get it off. he wanted to sell me a wheel. so no great effort on his part. Its on real tight so takes a long bar and lots of pull. I was able to spray some wet lube in from the cup side. the notchy feeling went away. I eventually had some skipping. what happened is the lube washed grease into the pawls and they will stick. even Phil woods tenacious lube is too thick even though it seems to be a favorite on You Tube . this may be a problem with entry level formula hubs only. I found a tool to take apart the freehub on line by Walmart from china. cheap and works great. I have learned not too much grease on the bearings as it will fling around and get into the pawls and they will stick. lube the pawls with tri flow and sparingly. and where the pawls run just a shmeer of lube. few weeks before I went ahead and ordered a cheap freehub from Walmart. not knowing if it will fit . its hard to say off the web page . PS I had called trek in the USA about getting a replacement freehub and they had no idea. seems like its either buy a new hub or a new wheel. no parts out there . what they call a propriety part made only for trek and not the end consumer. my freehub was a bit worn out and servicing it was only extending the time frame however It was time for a replacement . the only thing I did notice is that the formula one used a thick washer where the FH threads into the hub. with the one from Walmart it has a raised area so no need for the washer as it would stick out too much. so I installed it without the washer. it is off by just maybe half a millimeter or so. no too concerned because it moves and no rubbing also the very slight play in the freehub would not be there if it was on to close to the hub without any clearance. I will see better next time I service the hub. lets face it if it works great and if not I just spent 16$ . not expensive for trial and error. to conclude servicing the FH is not worth the effort. only when you can't find a replacement. I hope this helps all the people out there who have come across this issue before of not being able to purchase a FH or repair parts. thanks trek!!. I have seen posts about it in the past . nothing in the last few years. so it may not be an issue anymore because less bikes sold this way or whatever. then again maybe they just upgrade to better wheels. I will post if the replacement FH fails. I was thinking this may be manufactured at the same plant that makes them for formula so no harm done. or if its a knock off and it works great for the price.