Removal of a Shimano freehub, help please

Shimano are usually hex key and are VERY tight.  You may struggle without something to clamp the hub shell into.

That sounds like the process I remember last time I did one, (ages ago) but I had the benefit of extra leverage from the full wheel.

I'd have a go at getting the worn out one off first, that'll tell you.

Last time I did this I wrapped a bit of inner tube round the hub and clamped it in a vice so I could undo the freehub body. It was on BFT!

Yeah, I think you just need more force and will struggle without it laced into a wheel.
A good way to get a better lever on a cylinder, without clamping it in a vice (which I don't think would work too well anyway) is to strap a bar of some sort by looping the strap around the bar, round the back of the cylinder, and round the bar again. Hope that makes sense - hard to describe, but I don't have a picture.

Thanks all, i put the hex into the head of the bolt. One of us held the wheel and the other stood on an 18" breaker bar. I have concluded that it wont come off.

I will try and find her another wheel from somewhere. Boost 141 q/r on a tubeless rim is a tricky standard

Regards

Ian

I had something similar recently on my son's bike. It was a non-shimano hub though.

I could get an allen key seated in via. the drive side but could not for the life of me move it.....whether turned anti-clockwise or clockwise.

A colleague (also at a social bike project where I help out)  noticed that a different sized allen key also fitted into something when inserted from the non-drive side. It turns out there was a bolt held captive inside the hub which screwed into the free-hub body.

Now I write this it's not clear to me why I couldn't undo it from the drive side...but anyway it didn't.

So 2 suggestions: tried a different allen key from the non drive side? and considered the possibility of a left hand thread?

Think they are ~40Nm and threadlocked.

Most of them are factory fitted and go to the scrapyard having never been touched.

Have you managed to get the old freehub off the built wheel?

SJS have a freehub that will fit for a reasonable price: https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/hub-spares/shimano-fhtx500-complete-freehub-body-y3e698040/?geoc=FR

Stuck cheap freehubs were a right pain to deal with as a mechanic, I often resorted to pouring boiling water over the hub shell to expand the alloy then use a hex drive socket and an impact gun. As you only have a bare hub to strip I guess you will need to sacrifice the hub in a vice to aid removal

I was going to ask would an impact wrench help? Im guessing it would be ok for removal. Its a community project but id probably buy and use myself for other things.

The second hassle will be the bare hub, but it is possible to buy just the freehub....

https://si.shimano.com/en/ev/FH-MT200B-4357

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/hub-spares/shimano-fhtx500-complete-freehub-body-y3e698040/

So, as i have dewalt xr 18v batteries, which impact wrench should i buy?

I could get an allen key seated in via. the drive side but could not for the life of me move it…..whether turned anti-clockwise or clockwise

I had to buy a 13mm Allen key (I think) for exactly that purpose. Can't remember which side it went into, but it did the job.

EDIT: Just been to my "not every day tools" draw, and there are 11mm & 12mm Allen keys, so they were the ones I used. Still unsure which side for which key, though.

Its def a 12 that fits and it can only go in from the DS.

I have also got a 14mm that fitted some Sonder wheels we got brought in too. I also have a 13 that fitred a Boardman rear freehub that went in and undid on the NDS.

For holding the bare hub, 1 spoke in each flange, rest the hub on top of the vice jaws, with the spokes dangling from the side of the hub, and between the jaws. Tighten the vice solid, and it'll hold plenty tight enough to remove the freehub.

@coatesy thats a fine idea. Thank you!