1989Pre 

Do these early Shimano dust caps come off? If so. how?

Hondo6

I recently acquired a set of vintage JoyTech freewheel hubs of similar design with that type of dust caps to get the axles/cones/dustcaps (needed the rear parts to convert an existing rear wheel with a JoyTech hub from solid axle to QR). Mine were simply press-fit into the end. I'm reasonably sure some or many older Shimano hubs used that design.

I was able to lever them off gently using a longish flat-tipped screwdriver. If I'd had an angled tipped screwdriver (or an old one I was willing to bend) or a mini-prybar of suitable length, I could have tapped them off from behind with less chance of damage. Can't say for sure, but I believe similar Shimano dust caps come off the same way.

That type of dust cap is fairly thin metal, so go gently. The can be dented/bent fairly easily, especially if they're alloy.

Hondo6

Of course, the question of why you want to remove them also comes to mind. You can service the hub without removing the dustcaps.

ThermionicScott 

They do come off, but don't. They'll bend for sure. Just get creative with your pinky and a paper towel to clean the races.

SurferRosa

I always remove dust caps like that when I'm overhauling a hub. I use a thin cone wrench to pry it off with a rag to protect the cap/hub. Never had a problem with this method on any hub, Shimano or not.

Later, the cone wrench can also help you seat the cap in place. And you can do this step with the axle (and its cones, etc.) in place if necessary.

1989Pre 

Just curious, how do you clean the inside of the dust caps of dried, old grease with them still on the hub?

sweeks

See post #4.

maddog34

Find an old, dull, #2 Flat blade screwdriver.. Bend the tip at a 30 to 45 deg. angle about 3/16 to 1/4" up from the tip, the bend will begin at about 3/8" or so from the tip...... place the bent tip inside the Dust cover, pointed upward..., lay the shaft of the new tool on the opposite side of the dust cover... Slap the tool handle toward the wheel. The dust cover will pop out with minimal damage.

if the dust cover deforms, use the open end of a 17mm socket or a 19mm socket to straighten the dust cover.. be careful to NOT flare the outer lip or the inner lip! They are NOT fun to straighten, although that newly formed tool will come in handy once again for the inner lip....

i have some old steel bike tire irons that do a good job of popping those covers out too...

oh.. and the new tool made from a screwdriver also can be used as a Tire Iron with a HANDLE too... if it has a dull tip like mine.... I found this one at a garage sale in the "Free" box... pre-bent.... "but it's Bent! what do you want that old thing for?" I put it under the cash box on her card table and lifted the cash box slightly... .."Ahhhh... now i know!"... it pries out the caps on those old Answer Manitou elastomer forks PERFECTLY, btw.... no marks whatsoever... it also sees duty as a Crown Race tool.... etc. I bought a custom machined Brass Hammer at that sale... $2 for 2.5 lbs. of brass... it gets used less than the Screwdriver...

3alarmer

.
...I remove them. It's just easier. I guess if you use an ultrasonic cleaner, you can get away leaving them in place. They are a press fit, so pry out carefully and press back in when reassembling, I usually press them back in before I put the bearings back in.

grumpus

Pry them out gently using a large flat screwdriver or similar lever, with a piece of wood resting on the hub flange/spokes for a fulcrum - if you don't add a fulcrum expect to dent the dust cap. Dented dust caps usually go back in just fine, only they don't look great. I suppose a blind bearing puller might work better.

1989Pre 

Not bad...My Royce hub took an arbor press to do the job. Thanks.

Hondo6

Adding to what @ThermionicScott and @sweeks said above: I generally use cotton swabs or paper towels/a rag and a small stick/screwdriver (or a finger) to swab out most of the old grease. After that, scrubbing with an old tooth brush and some degreaser of choice - followed by a short soak in OMS, a second brushing, an OMS rinse, and some paper-towel drying should clean out the rest fairly well. I personally don't worry if it's not "semiconductor clean-room clean" of old grease; if I get virtually all of it, I call that good. YMMV.

Only real issue I can see would be with a rear freehub-type hub. For the freehub end of those, a careful spray with WD-40 or equivalent (to loosen the old grease) into the dustcap using the supplied flex tube, being careful not to spray into the freehub assembly - might be a better idea than using degreaser (getting degreaser inside the freehub would not be a good thing IMO). Afterwards, scrubbing with an old toothbrush and a second careful WD-40 spray followed by a good wiping with paper towels/cotton swabs/whatever should be sufficient to remove most if not virtually all of the old grease.

I guess if you really wanted to you could do the equivalent of the "flush and dribble" procedure that Regina recommended for cleaning its freewheels with the freehub - or disassemble the freehub and rebuild it like you would a freewheel. I don't bother.

Bill Kapaun

I'll use Q tips & WD-40.
I'll spray some WD into a plastic bottle cap (or similar that I can toss) and dip the tip.
Remove excess grease and wet with a Q. Let sit a minute or 2 and swab.
Repeat until clean enough to suit ya.

grumpus

That seems like a lot of work compared to: pop out dust cap, wipe out old grease with paper towel, apply a finger of grease, replace dust cap.

dedhed

Pop'm out. If they bend a little straighten them on an appropriate size socket

1989Pre 

That's basically what I ended up doing. I used Coleman Fuel and not WD-40, though. Then, I stuffed a shop cloth in there and turned it circular with a screwdriver (so like 5 or 6 layers of shop cloth over the tip). That got a little extra that the cotton swab missed. I didn't want to risk damaging these dust caps, but thanks to all who gave me instructions on that, and maybe I will try it sometime.

_ForceD_

I found this method regarding removal of hub dust caps using sockets or pipes/tubes. It says to actually tap them inward first.

https://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopi...20out%20easily.


Dan

1989Pre 

You know.., I knew that and had used a tooth-brush many times for this, whether it was for dust-caps or just races..I forgot about it today, though. (I'm a little woozy, after doing 100 miles in the last two days, including a 75-miler. I never start riding long this early in the season, but am training for a benefit. I took today off). Anyway, that's why I forgot the tooth-brush, but the rest of your comment makes sense too. Jamming the shop cloth in there helped.

1989Pre 

The main reason I didn't go ahead and try to remove them is because I wasn't sure if any sticky substances, along with the designed tension, were holding them in (I am out of WD-40).

sweeks

I use a piece of a coat hanger with a short right-angle bend in the end long enough to reach the deepest part under the dust cap. This is used to push a piece of paper towel around to remove the old grease. Time required is a couple minutes tops.
I have removed the dust caps at times, and agree that their removal without damage is fairly easy, but in my hands the other way is quicker. YMMV.

EDIT: Coleman fuel ("white gas") is not recommended, as it is very flammable. Kerosene or odorless mineral spirits would be safer solvents.

ThermionicScott 

It's up to each person, but getting every nook and cranny of these things perfectly clean isn't necessary. As long as the bearing surfaces and balls are clean and surrounded by plenty of fresh grease, they'll be fine.

Hondo6

I guess it is a bit more work. But there's also virtually no chance of damage to the dust caps.

Edited to add: I also don't like removing press-fit parts more often than absolutely necessary. Besides the possibility of damage, every removal/refit wears the interface a bit. At some point, after enough removals/replacements it will eventually become a loose fit - which defeats the purpose of the interface.

grumpus

This isn't exactly a highly stressed precision component - the press fit only stops it from shaking loose, and if it were to become loose you could just stretch it, or add some Loctite 603.

Hondo6

You could use some type of adhesive to hold a loose dust cover in place, yes. And I suppose Loctite would be OK for that - though depending on the type of Loctite used that might make future removal difficult.

The flip side: you could also damage a dust cover during removal such that it was functional after being straightened - but it was quite obvious visually that it had been previously damaged, then straightened. The metal in some of these I've seen is quite thin, and I'm pretty sure some are alloy.

I generally prefer not to risk damaging parts if I can avoid it. Here, I simply don't see the necessity to take that risk.

To each his own.