TimeTravel_0

I am attempting to remove the freewheel from a rear wheel. The hub is a Suntour XCD-600 hub with a Suntour freewheel (I assume it's a freewheel and not a freehub -- I could be wrong though).

There are no splines or notches to insert a freewheel removal tool.



When I remove the locknuts, the top part is revealed to be a bearing race and there are bearings inside of the freewheel.





with the bearings removed, there seems to be no place to insert a freewheel tool besides the two pinholes.



I assume the only way to get this off is with a pin spanner and a chainwhip. Unfortunately, the pin spanner that I have does not fit. Before I track down a pin spanner that is small enough, I want to make sure I'm going about this correctly.

Am I on the right track?

Or is this not threaded on in the traditional sense, but pressed on...and not likely to be removed? I almost think that if I were to open it up with a pin spanner, I would not remove the cluster, but only open up the freewheel mechanism/racket.

FBinNY 

You have a hub which is neither fish nor fowl in freewheel/freehub terms. It isn't a freewheel which is threaded onto a hub, nor a cassette mounted onto a freehub body.

It's sort of in between where they've eliminated the interface between the interface between both elements and built it as one integrated system, with the hub bearings on the outside of the ratchet mechanism. It was popular on department store bikes for a few years until the price of OEM freehub/cassette hubs came down enough to make it obsolete.

You've already removed the axle and hub bearings and can service those if you wish & now the ring is holding the outer "cassette" and ratchet mechanism on. This doesn't take a freewheel remover. You can set the corner of a punch against the ring to break it loose, but it's been so long I forgot which way. See if you can tell from the last thread. Once you get that far, there'll be a second set of balls, also probably loose, so be ready to catch them

BTW- these generally aren't worth servicing, since you're not likely to find parts. If you can get by simply flushing it, and running some oil in to get it working, leave it alone, and reassemble the axle and hub bearings onto it using grease.

If you want to go farther with it, hopefully cny-bikeman will post filling in some of the blanks.

TimeTravel_0

Thanks. I started to suspect as much.

The reason I wanted to remove/replace the freewheel is there is a minor wobble in the "freewheel" when the rear wheel is pedaled. There is also a tiny, tiny bit of play in that area when I feel it by hand. I figured the freewheel was loose and not properly secured, since the axle is not bent.

Would you say this cog-cluster (let's just call it that) cannot easily/safely be removed from the hub?

FBinNY 

Freewheel or cassette wobble is normal and acceptable, so don't sweat that. Rim wobble is spoke work, and as long as none are broken and need replacing, you don't have to remove it. Hub bearing play is adjusted when you re-install the outer bearing cone and locknut.

So all in all, I'd leave it alone, rebuild it and ride it while it lasted, then scrap it.

Bianchigirll 

very interesting. Suntour Cassettes are and actually were so seldom seen coming on the heels of their demise.

FBinNY 

This isn't actually a SunTour cassette. It's a different animal entirely.

However, you're right. SunTour cassettes came so late in the company's existence, that it was too late to save it. They might have had some hope of at lease keep some things alive, but unfortunately were too proud, and went with their own unique spline pattern.

TimeTravel_0

the wheel is perfectly true and tensioned evenly. just a slight wobble located in the cog-cluster. I thought I'd take it apart and overhaul, but I'll just repack the bearings and adjust the hub instead.

The cog-cluster is not going to fall off, right?

Asi

It will not fall

The play in the freewheel can be adjusted but can be a little hassle to do it, but It can be done with some care without major disassemble: remove the two-pin nut (it's the cone raceway of the upper bearing with some threads on the inside) and be sure to rest the wheel flat and horizontal! Also be sure to lift that cone thing only! and never lifting the cogs (the balls will spill, around 100 3.175mm balls).
Now look on the part the cone was threaded on, it should have some washers in there (very thin 0.1mm - 0.2mm) remove one with some tweezers and tighten the cone back not messing the balls. This gives room for the cone to thread in further, tightening the bearing both upper and lower.

cyclotoine

Zombie thread revival! Suntour must have made a tool for this? It is so deep that it is quite difficult to get the force with a punch going planar to the cone. Is it reverse or normal threaded? Trying to service one from 1991 that has a lot of wobble.. a lot.

cyclotoine

TO Clarify this is an early suntour freehub. I know how it works and how to remove the cogs, service the axle bearings etc.. I just want to service the freehub, but I recognize I may have to just suck it up and ride into the ground with a wobbly freehub. A shame because cogs are still good as is the rim and I loath dismantling and relacing perfectly good wheels.

ThermionicScott 

There may be a pin underneath the cogs, holding the FH body to the hub: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...al-Help-Needed

cyclotoine

The lock-cog is on really tight, haven't been able to get the cassette off but up to this point haven't assumed that I needed to. I'll try to get it off to see if the reveals and tricks to freehub disassemble. The crazy thing is I actually think I have seen the tool for this before.

Thanks.

fietsbob

strip off the cogs .. need : 2 chain whips ..

I have cheater pipes on the ends of mine .

wobble never mattered much , with old drivetrains that use friction shifting.

Patwoz

So it seems I'm replying to a nine year old posting. Hopefully you have removed the freehub by now LOL. I am servicing the same hub right now and what I learned is you will need two chain whips. With the freehub away from you, use one whip to hold the cassette forward. I used the 4th gear up. Then use the other chain whip to remove the smallest sprocket. From there you will be able to remove the rest of the sprockets. Then service the free hub if desired.

Andrew R Stewart 

And this design, using the small cog as the threaded lock ring for the other cogs, is what Shimano initially used for a number of years with their freehub/cassettes. As indexing came onto the market they determined that a more dimensionally consistent design was needed and went to a separate lock ring. Or at least that's what I learned in the mid 1980s. SunTour copied this for their cassette design, likely due to patent issues. Andy

Moe Zhoost

Since the OP is a Time Traveler, these latest posts just may be helpful to him or her, back in 2010.