How To Service A Bicycle Freewheel - Strip Down / Clean / Assembly Of Vintage Freewheel

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I'm a hoarder. I've somehow managed to collect numerous freewheels ranging from single speed to 8 speed and most of them need a service. Some of the oldest, the 3 and 4 speed, have stuck pawls or dry bearings. In this video I show you how to strip down a freewheel and service it.
Tools needed:
Freewheel removal tool
Hammer and punch
Telescopic magnet & magnet tray (useful but not essential)
Tweezers
Tray to catch and dropped ball bearings
A light grease / oil for reassembly (normal bearing grease is too thick)
Degreaser / thinners for cleaning
Top tip:
Have an elastic band on hand when assembling the freewheel.
If the freewheel is stubborn - soak in WD40 for a week

[@bob-ny6kn]

I like the rebuild. These freewheels can last a century, easily. Things I do - (1) I attach a magnet to any tool and body while handling bearings (any slight magnetism helps). (2) When re-assembling I let the pawls stay as they want and lower the body onto the extended pawls, then rotate the body in the freewheeling direction so the body/pawl friction will pull the pawls into place. (3) I also PhilWood the pawls and grease the lower bearings. (4) While bearings are being worked with, I always work close to a surface, with a cloth on the surface so if any bearing falls, it won't fall far, and when a fallen bearing hits the cloth, it does not roll to the other side of the shop. Thanks for the video!

[@bikecg1]

Perfect lesson on how to enter the land of the unknown, the land beyond, if you want. One of the commenters suggested dental floss to compress the pawls. Works perfectly.

[@MonkeyShred]

Time to add dental floss to the workshop inventory

[@davidgriffin8717]

I've done this to a couple of Suntour freewheels with great results. I like to work on the floor with an old bath towel underneath the freewheel/wheel, in order to 'soft catch' any bearings that fall out.

[@MonkeyShred]

The soft landing is a great tip too I think. Bouncing ball bearings are no fun

[@davidgriffin8717]

Other than completing a restoration project itself, rebuilding an old freewheel is about the most satisfaction that can be had when working on an old bike.

[@BlackMamba-lt8oe]

@@davidgriffin8717 bro what did u do to the broken ratchet and spring how did u fix that , the ratchet that locks , so that the bike can move

[@davidgriffin8717]

@@BlackMamba-lt8oe we’ll I was only doing a cleaning and relube. None of the pawls or springs were broken, so if yours are perhaps you can swipe some from another freewheel and replace your broken ones. In any case it’s a good exercise (tearing a freewheel apart) in order to get a good understanding of how it works.

[@mikeadamson5694]

I have a few old malliard/sunrace freewheels in my box of bits which had either wobbled or gunked up so will be having a go at rebuilding now. I’ll likely never use them as I tend to just buy a more modern alloy wheelset with sealed bearings which come with a new freewheel, but the simple joy of taking them apart and putting them back again is enough. As always great vid and very helpful to a budding restorer like me 👍

[@isaiahwelch8066]

While a good idea about the bowl, a better idea is once the dropout side of the freewheel is removed (this is the small sprocket side), pick up the whole assembly from the bottom and flip it over 180°, so you have the large sprocket on top. Then, pull the hub body (which is inside the sprocket) up and out. Which, if a freewheel's bearings are dry, then when the body is pulled, they'll roll towards the center, into the hole in the middle -- which means you don't lose any bearings. Also, as an additional bit of information, most mid-to-lower end Falcon and Shimano multispeed freewheels have 31 bearings on the small side/dropout side, and 39 bearings on the large sprocket/axle hub side.

[@Sir_Arlin]

im glad your back

[@BruceChastain]

cool, really like these educational type videos. Will come back when I need to do this job.

[@zekezyzypt608]

This video should be titled 'Tenacity & Tenacious Oil - The Movie'. Excellent work as always.

[@zomb3kill3r]

hahaha, never seen how useful an elastic band snip could be. that one's going into my arsenal. Thanks for the video mate

[@MonkeyShred]

No problem 👍

[@FlixTV]

You can remove one thin washer to compensate bearing race wear to eliminate the wobble.

[@MonkeyShred]

Good tip!

[@ashstaniland5879]

Love this type of video.

[@builtbydylan8315]

I fill old freewheels with phil woods all the time and it really some great stuff!

[@meadows408]

I have secured the hub in a drill press vice sitting in a large plastic tray to catch the bearings that inevitably fall out. It is a difficult job for sure, nice work. Keep up the videos, the old bikes need to be back on the road.

[@sharonlong3882]

⁸88 u887i u887i u887i

[@steelisreal4313]

I like that! I will go to thrift store and pick up a sheet pan and put underneath my drill press vice for freewheel rebuild.

[@stevevolz2164]

You had me cacking myself there boy! Well done! Some v. useful tips. Excellent, as usual. Thanks.

[@tasospappas6627]

Very useful video! I will try to fix my 1985 Maillard 5speed cassette!

[@wishbone9478]

Good job lad.

[@liammcgough9969]

nice video. How do you change the gear cogs on Suntour freewheel?

[@creatiph]

I've never used elastic bands. Like in your case, if the pawls are accessible from the top during assembly, I will let the cogs part sit on the pawls and I use an exacto knife/cutter to retract the pawls slightly. This way I feel I have way more control than having to cut an elastic under tension.

[@Kripto1999]

Amazing,great help I'll give it a go 😬

[@MonkeyShred]

Good luck!

[@davidward4329]

Very helpful , thanks

[@MonkeyShred]

You're welcome!

[@luckyram3461]

Hello, very useful vid, thanks for sharing . Gave me the courage to do something's similar , except that when putting the wheel back on the bike, everytime the wheel is backpedal, the cog gets tightened & eventually forcing the chain to slip. Any idea what I might have done wrong please?

[@luckyram3461]

Addendum, looks like every time I back-pedalled the wheel the cassette is tightened further. 😒

[@MonkeyShred]

Take the wheel out the bike first to see if it’s the freewheel first.

[@FrancoDX]

Top work as usual. I’d like to know how they originally held the pawls in place during assembly. Could probably use cotton or string?

[@MonkeyShred]

Maybe! String is definitely thin enough

[@bob-ny6kn]

FrancoAC - No strings needed. Let the pawls extend, lower the freewheel body onto the pawls, turn the body in the freewheel direction, the friction of the body-on-pawls will pull the pawls into the body. Here's a video (should start at 8:49 and only about ten seconds): kzbin.info/www/bejne/ipDZg5V4h7WlacU

[@spiloFTW]

I got an idea! Use a cut up beer can to hold the paws while you put the body on :) Just like the clam they use when installing pistons into an engine.

[@MonkeyShred]

That should work as long as you can remove it through the top.

[@gravelproof]

Did you notice the bearing that fell out at 14:00 or was it just a massive blob of grease? Just checking in case it was missed!! Tricky work with all those bearings! I would be tempted to make a temporary lip made of an old plastic container wrapped around to keep the bearings in place.. good job!

[@MonkeyShred]

I did. I made sure they were all back in place :)

[@BlackMamba-lt8oe]

bro what did u do to the broken ratchet and spring how did u fix that , the ratchet that locks , so that the bike can move

[@MonkeyShred]

The tiny wire spring on the first body? I haven't found a solution for that yet

[@ChrisinOSMS]

Would one want to use grease to stick the bearings onto the race or would that gunk up the pawls?

[@MonkeyShred]

It would work great at sticking the bearings but I believe it gunks up the pawls a lot easier.

[@DevoteeCT]

I use a very thin layer of grease first and then get everything assembled including loctite'ing the lockring (afraid of that nightmare), then I flush and degrease the entire assemble after the loctite cures, blow it out dry, then drip oil in.

[@dietbountyicecream1444]

You could try twisting a guitar string to the shape of the spring. And use that

[@MonkeyShred]

I've just seen another comment saying that :) I'll give it a go.

[@acac4348]

Great video, I was thinking, you could of just flipped it and taken out the hub from the top.

[@MonkeyShred]

That would have been easier in hindsight!

[@jaimeb.384]

Shouldnt you use greasse instead of oil?

[@danielcarter2980]

Might be able to use a fine electric guitar string as a spring for the first freewheel

[@MonkeyShred]

Oh really? I'll look in to that

[@bob-ny6kn]

No strings needed... @Pr3c

[@Aubreykun]

Could you not have upended it to do the bottom side? Seems like that would be easier - dropping the balls into the cup section or removing the center without risking them missing the bowl. PS: Also what did you use to clean it of rust/grime/etc?

[@keithschrack]

Some people insist on doing things the hard way...and yes, upending the unit would make gravity your friend.

[@MonkeyShred]

That would make sense. Seems like an easier thing to do. RE the rust and grime. I cleaned everything in thinners. I've done a pretty rusted freewheel too and that cleaned up super well in evaporust.

[@josemurillocasimiro5344]

Yo e arreglado y si es un problema yo las cuñas las Amaro con hilo lo que es expro frances y italiano

[@myvicariouslife4012]

anyone notice that modern freewheels usually have 39 bottom and 31 top 1/8 inch bearings?

[@MonkeyShred]

Nope, but I have a few I could take apart and see.

[@chunkyleejones3831]

👍

[@Alvaropalmamora]

13:57 ball bearing drop =(

[@redwallace7934]

I've used a length of dental floss instead of the rubber band

[@grindeyyyyy]

My freewheel sounds like the Luftwaffe

[@MonkeyShred]

How strange