Hello, I want to remove this freewheel to change it. I have this remover tool but it doesn't really fit onto the freewheel. I'm open to suggestions even if it's destroying the current freewheel without damaging the hub. Any tricks to get it to loosen up?
Thanks in advance!
by dzhoshua_2
3 Comments
That looks like the proper tool. Do the teeth not fit properly? It has four prongs correct?
When I did this back in the day all day long, I would put the tool on the freewheel, then a washer then the axle bolt. I would leave the axle bolt just a bit more than loose, and that would help keep the teeth of the tool engaged as I backed out the freewheel. The engagement of the tool can be wonky sometimes, and hard to get proper leverage.
You also might try to heat up the freewheel mildly, and make sure you are turning it the proper way.
put the tool in a vice upside down, put the wheel on top and use the whole wheel as leverage.
you could also loosely put a bolt on the axle to keep the tool in place just dont tighten it but leave a few millimeters for the first turn
Loosen the outer bearing race by tapping a hammer on a screwdriver (or something similar) clockwise on one of the two indentations. Then you can simply lift the teeth part of the freewheel from the freewheel body, and the bearings will spill out.
The freewheel body can be loosened by using a pipe wrench, and you might need more leverage if the freewheel was ridden a lot.
This method won’t damage the hub’s threads, but your freewheel will be fully dismantled (though you could reassemble it for reusing if you want to).