The freehub body sounds and feels rough after I've removed the cassette and hub bearings. There's a bit of play when it's turned foward as well. Its a budget hub so might not be replaceable.

Any advice on flushing the body ? Can you do it on the hub or do you need to get it off first?

Ta

there was a special tool to flush grease through a shimano freehub body, saw it years ago in a mag review. not seen it advertised for a good while though.

Hmm cant find it either. Grr…

free hub buddy I think its called.

It was by Morning Star (freehub buddy), it was a great bit of kit. However, it died a death when different freehub bodies had different openings on them. Shimano started pressing in "shields" so you couldn't get the tool in any more.

Wife has a Deore hub. When that gets greased, I take the freehub off, remove the rubber seal from the back and run a thick chain lube through it until clean stuff starts to run out onto the towel below it. Let it drain over night or you end up with a load of chain lub making its way into the axle bearings.

best to flush 1st (wd40) then lube after draining

Could you flush, bathe it in warm grease. That way it would be low enough viscosity to work it's way in but would then cool, and not work it's way out?

Could you flush, bathe it in warm grease. That way it would be low enough viscosity to work it's way in but would then cool, and not work it's way out?

I would use a big aerosol can of brake cleaner,Ideally I would remove all components and clean well with it.

If you cant get the free hub body off, your more likley to push grit and dirt further into the hub body,The only way to be sure is to strip it out imho.

Its never that easy is it.

Just tried to get it off using a 10mm allen. Seams to want a more scarce 11mm or 12mm.

Double grrr…

Ah yes been there done that!there a sod to remove,I ended up with a Huuudge long bar to crack her off,using a bit of heat from a heat gun helps as well. 😉

I had the same issue, and I wasn't about to go and buy an 11mm allen to take the bloody thing off…

My hack is generally is the same concept as the freehub buddy.

First, remove axles/cones/bearings and wipe out the old grease.

Then, plug up the left side (non-drive side) of the hub with a cork- you'll have to grind the cork down to make it fit snug.

Flip the wheel over to the freehub side facing upward and set it up on a bucket. Fill up the entire inside of the hub to the edge of the freehub with degreaser/solvent of your choice (paint thinner for me).

Then, stretch a piece of an old tire or anything that will give you some kind of a seal over edge of the freehub that you can hold down with your hand.

Take your bike pump with a pump needle (like you would use to fill up a ball with), and puncture the seal you made over the freehub edge, inserting the tip of the needle into the hub . when u pump air into the freehub, you should see a small voulume of degreaser/solvent flow out of the base of the freehub . it doenst matter if your seal isn't perfectly airtight – pressure will increase in the freehub and small amount of fluid will work its way through the freehub. you'll have to refill the hub to the top a few times and repeat the process to flush it out throughly.

after that, drain the remaining degreaser, and repeat the process several times with the motor oil/gear oil of your choice, flushing out the residual degreaser/solvent (i mixed up a slurry of 30 wt motor oil and axle grease). As I understand it, the lube you use isn't critical, but a heavy-weight oil like gear oil is preferable. You should notice that the freehub is noticeably firmer and more quiet. In my case, the freehub almost sounds like it is grinding when there is no lube in it. Yes, you do waste a lot of degreaser/lubricant, but IMO its easier than the expense and hassle of one buying one singular special 11mm tool to take the bloody bastard off, and achieves the same result (or so figure, at least…).

Clean up the mess with a towel, throw your cork and scrap piece of tire rubber into your toolbox, and you're good to relube the rest of the hub components. Hope that process makes sense, if not let me know and I'll try and re-explain (by the way, I'm no expert at bike maintenance, so feel free to blast away!!)…

If I remember correctly "Morning Star" also did a specific lube which I think was slightly more viscous than chain lube but not a grease as such. If you go too thick your pawls can stick down so you get freewheel in both directions. i'd go for a well drained chain lube. As stated above, too much could end up being sprayed all over the back of your bike.

11mm allen key for £2.10

A

I'm sure the freehub allen bolt is 10mm…

I used to whip them off, and boil them up in fairy liquid for a few hours. Rinse well and soak in water disperser. Then flush with hypoid gear oil. Always got another year out of them.

Depends on the make, took an 11mm off yesterday, had one with 14mm last week too.

I once welded a nut to an 11mm headed bolt and used it with a spanner saved me buying an allen key!