choddo

Got play in this Hunt Mason-X wheel and this bearing in the freehub seems to be the culprit. Never popped one of these out before. What should I acquire? Appreciate I need to get the cassette off first too

choddo

Ok I’m going with one of these then
https://www.bearingprotools.com/prod...32344670044265

plus bearings and press. New wheel might have been cheaper

dsaul

Hunt sells replacement freehubs.

choddo

Just looked and the entire thing is only about 40% more than the bearings I ordered I suspect they're a bit more robust though.

Kontact 

Most freehub bearings can be tapped out with a punch. Some have a floating sleeve between inner and out bearings that you nudge to the side.

Andrew R Stewart 

The couple handfulls of freehub bearing replacements I've done often found the bearing was so tightly held that I resorted to heating the FH body in an oven (about 250* for 15 minutes or so) to expand the bearing OD bores. Again on reassemble with new bearings a heating of the FH body shell made the insertion be far easier. No hydraulic press needed and the relatively "light duty" bearing pulling tools that the bike industry offers last a lot longer.

Yes, remove the cassette first. Andy

Kontact 

Interesting. I've done dozens for freehub bearing swaps and never had much trouble getting them out with a variety of brands. Do you remember what it was?

Andrew R Stewart 

I didn't keep track of the shop servicings I have done over the years. That's the job of the shop. But it was fairly early on in the cartridge bearing freehub era with Mavic ones. One of the first I couldn't get the old bearings out and the cust found a machine shop connected with his work and they promptly broke the body (steel) with one of their big presses. At some point way back then someone suggested heat (remember this is still pre internet) so I tried it at home and it went so much easier. Since then I usually quoted turnaround time based on the home work portion happening. With the advent of Al bodies being the jizz, the cog dig in on the splines drives the replace or repair assessment more toward replacement sometimes.

Brands I've done, but with no specific comments on any, are; Mavic, DT, Phil, various Asian house labeled ones, Bontrager, Some were fairly easy to remove and reinstall the bearings others were still tight with some heat. I've wondered if the fit is more about the manufacturer holding tolerances consistently, as opposed to a brand having a fit spec that is tighter than most. Both are possible. Andy

Kontact 

The heat thing makes me wonder if there was some Loctite 609 or similar involved. Just curious. Thanks!

Garthr

This guy shows in a straightforward and effective manner how he replaces the bearings on his freehub of a Hunt wheel. He says the hubs are Novatec brand in his other video on servicing the other bearings of the hubs.

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choddo

Nice video. Yeah that’s pretty much what I’m expecting. Stuff might arrive today. I am kind of glad I’m getting the correct bushings for these bearings but now I want a bench vise. Which would require the purchase and installation of a bench. Might nip round the father-in-laws to use his

Andrew R Stewart 

I have mounted a small bench vise on a roughly 1'x3' board and then use pipe clamps to hold this board on top of another table (kitchen). A quick way to get a solid vise and also store it away in a closet. Around NW NY state small vises sell for $25 to $100 on Craig's List. I would think they might be even more easily found in the Old Country.

I don't think any hub bearings, in general, that I have serviced have used a retaining compound from the factory. I have used it for a hub shell bearing bore that was slightly oversized and the bearing was ever so slightly rocking about. I've also used 609 (or 608??) for installing big bearings in/on Burley tandem rear shells/BB axles and Weyless rollers. The stuff works really well when done properly, and is a pain to redo if not. Andy

choddo

This one seems to be one of those.

250° C?
How did you handle the freehub aftwards? Like Homer with some U235?

edit. Managed to get one out with a punch. The other one… oh dear, after a good few ear-splitting whacks with a socket … flipped it over to take a look, not moved at all but half disintegrated.




This is the one I thought I might as well replace as I was doing the other one with play in it!! Utterly siezed. Amazed this wheel span so freely. I’m determined to get this out though so heat is my next gambit.

Andrew R Stewart 

Sorry if I was thinking in Fahrenheit. But I do provide my location for those who might want further indication when I forget to specify. Perhaps I can blame my stove's manufacturer

A common kitchen pot holder does fine to handle the FH body when warmed up. I have done enough of these to have learned to set up my bearing pulling/hammering arrangement before I remove the very warm FH body from the oven. As soon as the FH body is out of the oven it is cooling down and also transferring more of the body's energy to the bearing and we want differential heat. Andy

choddo

°F is good too. You always write like a Brit so I thought I’d better check. :-)

grumpus

Break up the ball retainer and remove the balls and inner race. Then run a bead of weld around the inside of the outer race. With a bit of luck that causes everything to shrink inwards as the weld cools.

Kontact 

Welder? Why not use his hydraulic press, or the laser cutter?

SpedFast

A phaser on 'stun' might do the trick too. Just saying

choddo

Hehehe

I am going to the father in laws this AM to give it some creativity. He might even have a welder buried in his aladdin’s cave somewhere.

dedhed

Common method.

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Kontact 

I'm sure it is - among people that have welders. I've never seen a bike shop that has one, and most home mechanics don't either. (Yes, I know frame builders are sometimes part of bike shops.)

It's just odd when people are at a level of proficiency that they are asking about doing common bike tasks on a forum, yet the responses assume that they have lathes, welders and other things that would indicate a much greater mechanical proficiency in general.

And even then, I'll bet that trying to weld out a thin bearing race in an aluminum freehub of that inner diameter is not going to go as well as that video.

choddo

Now have a shed on fire - can anyone advise?

Actually the father-in-law's expansive socket collection came to the rescue in 2 minutes flat - One socket the perfect size to act as a brace behind and another the perfect size to just fit inside the freehub and make good contact with most of the bearing and a quick smack with his lump hammer was all it needed. I had put some penetrating oil on it overnight - I expect that was what made all the difference

dedhed

People with varied mechanical knowledge and skills think outside the "LBS is the only place" mentality and have learned to use other resources. Every MC/auto/muffler/etc shop has a welder and most are happy to do small jobs for cash. I myself own a welder as do a number of friends. Like anything I use multiple resources like buying bearings from bearing suppliers and tire cement and chemicals/grease from auto parts stores

Realistically though, I agree this wasn't the application for the use of a welder to remove the bearing. Too small, dissimilar metals among others.