Ol Danl

I've been trying my hand at servicing freewheels -- a couple of unused ones to begin with. I bought some small drift style punches, and with the 3/32" inch one I successfully got a Falcon fw apart and back together, but I bent it trying to loosen the plate on a Shimano one. I may buy a Park SPA-2 spanner also, but I believe the plate on that Shimano would be on too tight for a spanner. Anyone have a punch that works really well for this? Could you tell me the brand and model, or at least length and shape of the punch? 3/32" looks to be about the diameter of most of the holes.

JohnDThompson 

Are you trying to move it in the right direction? It should be a left hand thread, so clockwise to loosen.

FBinNY 

I opened and serviced my first and last freewheel sometime close to 1968. BITD - Freewheels had shims you could remove to correct for play as they wore. But when all is said and done, taking a freewheel apart for service is a waste of time and effort. You can achieve the same results by soaking and flushing with solvent, then draining, oiling and draining again.

You end up with a good as new freewheel, or at least good as it's going to get, with near zero effort, and no risk of damaged pr lost internal part.

bikeman715

You can try craftsman tools at Sears . If their punch bend or break their warranty will cover it .

Bill Kapaun

Grind down a punch to suit.

Ol Danl

Thanks for the responses. I've been flushing and oiling freewheels, but I don't think they sound like they're holding on to the oil -- they still sound dry. The Falcon I took apart had been flushed and oiled, and oil would still drain out of it -- but when I got it apart, there was very little lube on the bearings. It's really not a hard job once the plate is off. Just mangled the puny punch I was using in the process. Probably grinding down a sturdier punch is the way I'll have to go.

FBinNY 

The beauty of freewheels is that there's never any load on moving parts. When you pedal, there's plenty of load, but the freewheel is locked and turning as a single block. When you coast, there's plenty of movement, but the only load is the weight of the freewheel itself.

As such, very little lubrication is needed, just a slight film to prevent galling and/or rust from water entry. If it seems that oil isn't being retained, it's possible that you're oiling before all the solvent has evaporated, or you're using too thin an oil.

Thicker oils, like auto gear oil or 40wt motor oil will soak in if you're patient. If you're not so patient, these thick oils can be thinned with some solvent, which will evaporate leaving the oil. Or you can thin a soluble grease, and that does a nice job of leaving a film of grease in place, which doesn't violate the "do not grease rule".

FWIW - I use Chain-L in freewheels, but that's mainly because I have a nearly infinite supply. Phil's Tenacious is similar, and both have a "glue" to help the film adhere.

Ol Danl

Possibly my problem is my solvent of choice -- kerosene -- because I have a bunch of it I need to use up. It evaporates pretty readily when in the open (spilled on the floor), but possibly stayed in the fw and diluted the 30wt oil I drizzled in there. Anyway, the only freewheels I was attempting this on are pretty much cast offs. I know it's pretty much a waste of time. But reading this forum it seems there are folks who service them quite a bit, and 5 speed with 34 tooth don't seem to be made any more, so I have one of those I thought I'd try if these others went okay --I do have a use for that one. So far, the one I have gotten apart seems okay.

fietsbob

I reccomend safety glasses when you start banging on a Punch.. and don't use a carpenters hammer..

FBinNY 

No problem if you prefer to open them up. I was simply pointing out that there's no mechanical benefit to doing so.

Kerosene is a bit of a problem as a solvent because as you point out, it takes eons to dry completely. You can rinse with OMS, naphtha or gasoline (outdoors please) all of which will dry. Or you can put the freewheel in a warm place, like sitting on a blacktop driveway on a sunny day. You can also tie a string through it and spin dry it to get all but the last bit, which will then dry much faster.

JohnDThompson 

After oiling your freewheel, work a little heavy grease into the gap between the inner and outer bodies on both the inside and outside faces of the freewheel. This will help hold the oil in place.

leob1

After flushing with solvent of your choice, blow some air into it, that will help drive it out and dry things faster.
I working in a machine shop long ago, I used to soak my freewheels in a pot of tricloro-something-or-other. That removed any and all traces of grease and oil, off the part and my skin. Then I'd drip heavy oils into it, giving it a day or two to flow through and out the bottom. But that is really way too much work for too little benifit.

Ol Danl

Flushing out the solvent with air, and working grease in, both sound like ideas I will have to try. Thanks for more good suggestions.

ThermionicScott 

When I relube a freewheel or freehub body, I'll give the solvent some time to drain out/evaporate, but I don't agonize over it. I'll just start "chasing" it out with oil while continuing to work the freewheel around, and eventually I see oil (more or less) coming out the other end. I keep turning for a while and then set it down for the excess oil to drain out. The next day, I'll wipe it off and consider it ready to use again.

It takes more mental energy to describe that than I expend while flushing the thing.

Miele Man

PARK makes a lightweight pin-spanner specifically for the freewheel lockrings. It's fantastic andd saves deforming the recess you're hitting with a punch.

Cheers

mwtech

I have an old freewheel grease adapter. It threads into the freewheel and has a gasket/washer. Once tight, you connect to a grease gun zerk and pump it full. I use a very light grease. Works great.

wheelreason

Recommend a punch?

The straight right hand Marquez hit Pacquiao with will loosen anything...

speedy25

Well, you are right. I had some Kerosene too that I tried using for cleaning parts. It sucks for a de-greaser. Great for heaters though.

My favorite solvent is a carburetor cleaner. Avoid any of the ones that start with methanol in the ingredients. They are only slightly better than kerosene.

Back in the old days parts were made for disassembly and service. Not any more. Feel free to mess with the old stuff, but just toss the new ones away and install a replacement.

-SP

AlexCyclistRoch

Capri Sun makes a good punch..........