cassette free hub... have i killed it

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cleaning around the hub with paraffin and i think some may have entered into the free hub possibly washing the grease out ... sounds kinda rough now. is there a way of re-greasing these or is it f****?

 

[novocaine]

What's the hub?
Shimano stlye freehubs are pretty much the most awkward but can be opened and regreased easy enough. You'll need to make a tool to remove the outer bearing race and be ready to catch the 60 odd bearings that fall out.

 

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What's the hub?

just says Planet X and has a dog on it. no model number.

 

[2manyoranges]

Hmm paraffin....wouldn’t use that.

Now, do you mean the wheel bearings feels rough or the freewheel mechanism feels rough? Or both?

And is it still on the bike?

A Shimano freewheel is removed by removing axle and wheel bearings, then using a ten mm Allen key to unscrew the hollow pillar bolt which holds the freewheel body on. Leave yours inner face down on kitchen paper fir 24 hours to let the paraffin drain out. There is no need to dismantle the free hub itself to get the right lube in. They work far better with light oil inside than with grease. All you do is hold the free hub inside surface up, and drip high quality oil into the join between the rotating outside body and static inner core. As you rotate it you will think the oil is not going in but it is. It goes in slowly. Keep doing it. The free hub will sound increasingly quiet and smooth.

Then reassemble.

But if it’s the wheel bearings then you simply need cone spanners and to watch an online tutorial on dismantling, degreasing and reassembling cone-based wheel bearings.

 

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Hmm paraffin....wouldn’t use that.

Now, do you mean the wheel bearing feels rough or the freewheel mechanism feels rough?

wheel bearings are fine. its this thing ... not this actual one

 

[2manyoranges]

Thanks for the photo - ok that’s clear - regret that to properly lube the free hub you will need to remove the wheel bearings and regress and replace them. You can have a go at getting oil in the freehub without dismantling everything, by dropping high quality oil at the BACK of the freehub and then turning it in order to get the oil to migrate into the freehub ie the part closest to the spokes. Does that make sense?

 

[2manyoranges]

And no you haven’t killed it ... eminently rescue-able

If you look at that last photo look at the gap between the freehub and the hub flange holding the spokes you can have the wheel at 45 deg sloping backwards and then dribble oil into that gap and rotate the freehub round and round - the rotation will draw oil into the freehub - if you do that you won’t need to do the wheel bearings - but that’s a good skill to have....

 

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And no you haven’t killed it ... eminently rescue-able

If you look at that last photo look at the gap between the freehub and the hub flange holding the spokes you can have the wheel at 45 deg sloping backwards and then dribble oil into that gap and rotate the freehub round and round - the rotation will draw oil into the freehub - if you do that you won’t need to do the wheel bearings - but that’s a good skill to have....

trickle oil in here?

 

[2manyoranges]

Yep - exactly - with the wheel leaning backwards, and rotating the freehub continuously as you drip it, it will get pulled into the freehub interior by virtue of the rotation

 

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nice one ... ill give it a go.