So my wheel was like slipping a little bit at the top of my stroke so I decided to take the wheel off and investigate a little and discovered that this was really loose. Not sure if it’s supposed to be like this or not. Any help would be great thanks.
Is this supposed to be loose like this or not?
byu/ZachAttack9275 inbmx
by ZachAttack9275
5 Comments
Maybe you broke a pawl in the hub if you have a weird dead zone. Only thing I can think of
It only like engages and clicks when I turn if fast. The the thing on the other side spins with the driver thing
I was pretty much just wondering if I need to like tighten that thing all the way so it squeezes up against the inside of my cassette so it doesn’t move at all because it doesn’t really tighten anymore
It’s fine. The axle to the hub should have a step or bearing so it doesn’t tighten all the way, otherwise the driver wouldn’t spin at all. You should only worry if the axle has wiggle if you push/pull on it from the ends.
That’s common. If it feels smooth and there’s no signs of internal damage, I wouldn’t be too worried about it. If there were to be high spring tension applied to the pawls it likely wouldn’t do this. Not a bad thing there isn’t, as long as there’s not too little. If there was too little, the hub would skip. Based off of your description, this is likely the cause as to why it is skipping. Could also be because the hub had far too much play allowing for the driver to unseat itself under load just enough as to allow for the pawls to not fully engage with the ratchet ring within the hub shell. In either case, I’d disassemble and inspect the internals.
The driver probably features a single c-clip both retaining and applying spring pressure to three pawls. Remove the drive side jam nut, remove the driver, and inspect the internals. If nothing is damaged, clean everything, and reassemble. Prior to reassembly, carefully bend the c-clip retaining the pawls as to make it a smaller circle; ensure this is done carefully as to avoid making it a large “C,” or folding it in half essentially. This allows for it to apply a bit more spring tension. Use some dry chain lube or freehub oil on the pawls. Very light grease works as well. Standard bicycle grease works too, but isn’t ideal. Should be ready to rock once assembled.
I should note that there shouldn’t be any play in the hub once assembled. You don’t need to crank down on the jam nuts, just enough to remove play and a little bit more. “A little bit” is less than an eighth of a turn usually. A smidge, if you will.
If this is loose-ball hub I’d also remove/clean/repack the non-drive side ball bearings – might as well once you’ve it apart. Best of luck!