Impact Driver for DT Swiss Hub Service

How powerful an impact driver will I need to release a seriously stuck ratchet ring on my DT Swiss 240 rear hub? Broken a vice already trying that method, bought a big heavy duty vice and still won’t release. Tried a breaker bar/long plank, zero movement. Tried heating the ratchet, zero joy.

Thinking of getting cheap high torque impact driver off the bay, doesn’t have to be too great as only used once in a while. Wondering if its worth a £60 punt on a 420Nm version?

Might work, i avoid the wheel in the vice drill as it never works, i tend to wedge the wheel in a corner (with the tyre on and 20psi or so), then use a breaker bar with the removal tool on it and bounce it free, never managed to get it loose in a vice, but never failed to loosen it with this method, the tyre grips the wheel in and the breaker bar lets you use your bodyweight to loosen it.

When I removed one from a hub not built into a wheel I attached an old disc then screwed that to something basically immovable (800kg in pizza oven in a crate, screwed it to the lid). Impact driver did nothing. Came off with a 2m pole on a socket. Used the slide bar type socket handle rather than a ratchet. I also had the socket version of the removal tool rather than the official dtswiss one. Once you get the initial movement it should not be too bad.

Agree, hate the vice method and how it feels your wheel will explode.
DT Swiss have hilarious videos of them using the vice method on new wheels, nothing to do with reality!

What size breaker bar did you use?

I have broken a hub before trying to get one of these awful things out!
zero success using the vice method, wood strapped to the wheel.. heat.. etc etc

but i found a succesful method last time i tried this..

the ‘bar’ i used, ended up about twice the length as the video with various extensions..
And It required quite a bit more force than in the video..
I also found I needed to apply the force, and then hold it for 30 seconds at a time before it eventually broke loose..

but its the only method i have found that works reliably..!

I wedged the bar under our mahoosively heavy bed frame.. which when assembled I can only lift up with a car jack!

(I have an old specialized s-works hub with the same sort of internals that uses a smaller bearing that you can just press out with the ring in place.. much better design from a service point of view..!)

I’ve knocked one out with my cheap impact which at a guess is in the 200nm ballpark. It generally struggles with wheel nuts but handled this.

Having said that I usually do it with a big breaker and if need be a bit of heat. Getting the wee seal out can make a surprising difference. These hubs are kind of their own worst enemies, like quality square taper BBs- they can last so long without servicing that when they need attention it’s all stuck together.

My LBS managed to get mine out using a heat gun, I can tell this from the damage to the sticker and paint on the hub, wished theyd have told me before doing it this is what they were going to do…

I have seen them tight enough that a Snap On 1/2″ gun would not move it.

If you have an impact I would try it, but I would not buy a £60 gun to do it.

They can be so tight it snaps spokes attempting to undo.

is it worth regularly undoing the ring to avoid this seizing?

Oh my g0d! Sigma-Sport are going to be doing mine on my Roval Alpinist CLX’s soon.

#whatcouldgowrong

Whereabouts are you OP? Maybe you could get someone on here to give it a crack?

(oh yeah and this is usually my cue to rant about how shit the actual DT swiss tool is, and how the 3rd party ones with a 1/2 inch drive are just how it should have been bloody done in the first place)

Vice method has never failed me here

Gave up on mine and swapped it with a Bitex hub…

broke 2 star ratchet tools, ripped my vice of the bench and bought an impact gun that wouldn’t shift it.

I even ended up bending the axle at one point. Can’t wait till my wife’s back wheel needs new bearings!

I get the own worst enemy thing. Been utterly reliable for 3 years in all sorts of weather. Bearings started to go so I thought I’d swap them for nice fresh ones…

What size breaker bar did you use?

It’s about a metre, funnily enough that video above is similar to how i do it, but instead of wedging the adjustable, i wedge the wheel, as the tyre grips tight and lets you then get some purchase on the bar.

I also bought the other tool off amazon/ebay with the drive fitment, think it’s like 19mm or 23mm, so you stick a 19 (or it could be 23) socket on it, so no faffing with an adjustable.

If i was having an issue removing, i’d probably try to use some penetrator in there, douse it and leave overnight, then a little heat, and give it another go with the breaker

Whereabouts are you OP? Maybe you could get someone on here to give it a crack?

Cheers Northwind.

I have had it freed up before with an impact driver at a mechanic shop but would really like to have the means to do it myself long term. Annoying as this design is, the hub/wheel is 4 years old and going strong and no reason to believe it won’t last another 4 years. So worth keeping if I can find a viable method.

If you’re just removing the drive ring to replace bearings then don’t touch it..

I’ve changed bearings on lots of DT Hubs with Drive rings 240\350\Etc and never removed the drive ring. Tolerances are tight, but bearings pass through the drive ring. I would only do it with a bearing press tool so everything stays nice and square. Not the official DT Swiss way so at your own risk, but I’ve never had any issues.