Cassette Hubs

[76]

 

Ok, these are totally new to me, SiL just brought round nephews WTP with a dickie back wheel on it for me to fix

Had a quick look and the cassette appears loose with sideways movement and it seems to have gentlemans relished it's grease everywhere.  Nip up the nuts but still grinds and doesn't run right.

Is there anything I can do with this, I see a couple of vids on Youtube about regreasing, is this likely to fix it?  Haven't fully stripped it yet, thought I'd wait till I got some advice

So if anyone has any experience please share.

Jo

[Dannywhac]

What's the hub?

[76]

It's a 'Salt' hub with 9 teeth.

[Dannywhac]

Coolio - there's supposed to be a little sideways movement on most cassettes (not a bab load though).

The 'grindy' thing might be caused by a load of stuff, although your best bet is sh1t trapped in the grease, bareing in mind you're not supposed to lather grease in the pawl area of the driver. Best bet is to pull out the driver, clean down the pawls/springs and in the hub where the driver sits. Mix a bit of grease with some oil to get a slightly thicker oil and lightly re-grease-oil the pawls and inside the hub. See if that gets shot of the grindy.

The pawls shouldn't be over greased as it'll stop the pawls engaging inside the hub (ie they'll sometimes stick) which can result in you going over the bars. Failing the above, it may be that the bearings are fooked, you should be able to pick up replacements at your LBS or a local nuts and bolts shop/eBay.

[76]

Cheers Dude, any particular grease?

I've eaked it loose so it has more play and can see loose bearings on the other side to the freewheel bit?  Does that sound right?

I'm guessing I can't do too much harm if I loosen it right off and pull it out assuming I take note of how it comes apart?

Thanks

[Dannywhac]

Totally - so long as you take piccies/note where everything went you'll have no troubs putting it back together.

Just like OS stuff, some cassettes are loose-ball and some are sealed. If yours is loose-ball (and by the sounds it is) then it might well be that some of the ball bearings are squared off, which would make the bugger grind when spinning. If that's the case (and you'll see em when you pop them out - do it over an old washing-up bowl cos they might piss everywhere) you can just buy new loose BB. Also check the bearing cup to check if that's still ok. If that's fooked, then it'd be an easier job just to get a new cassette hub which you can pick up a decent one around the £30-40 mark secondhand.

[76]

Danny, Thanks

Will strip it down then, might be back for some more advice!

Old Skool's more my thing, I ride new skool these days but have never had the need to service parts, don't ride hard enough these days.

[76]

Danny, which type of grease is best? or does it not matter?

[Dannywhac]

Doesn't really matter, but you want grease that's for cars etc so they've got a half decent melting point. Ideally teflon based or similar, if not any old cheapo grease for cars will do.

Don't forget, grease up the bearings, but only a little on the pawls otherwise they might not engage. I've got a G-Sport Ratchet and only use oil on mine (and only three drops  )

[76]

Right Just stripped this out.

On the opposite side to the cog it has loose bearings that are all there and in good condition, on the cog side it appears it has/had asealed type bearing that is annihilated, all the bearings that fell out are only half a bearing!

Rest of it looks in ok condition, so where am I best to get a bearing and how do I know what to get seeing I have pretty much nothing left of it?

Thanks

[Dannywhac]

If you can tap out the sealed bearing and the other side's in decent nick then on the rubber seal there should be a number/letters combo. If you search for that on eBay you should find a replacement sealed bearing for it

If the rubber's buggered on the other side, you measure sealed bearings by outside diameter, inside diameter and width of the bearing (you'll ideally need a set of calipers for this, but a tape measure will do). Searching these dimensions should also find you one. If you've got a fixings shop near you (or an local bike shop that specialises in bmx) you could take what's left of the bearing and they should be able to match it for you.

When you're popping the sealed bearing back in, you have to tap it in (I use a socket from a socket set) using the outside metal ring on the bearing - not the inside ring or anything touching the rubber seal as you'll shaft the bearing doing that.

Also bear in mind all me advice may be a load of tosh if that bearing's supposed to be a permanent fixture in the hub (not having seen it) - in fact, if your innards look like this:

http://www.winstanleysbmx.com/product/36637/Salt_Looseball_Cassette_Hub_Rebuild_Kit?gclid=COHgt9PFirkCFZPItAodE1wAnQ

you should be able to find a replacement bearing easy

[76]

Looks exactly like that and the part thats fubared is the bearing thats still on the spindle in that shot?

Will I get one of these seperate or should I order the full thing?

[Dannywhac]

Gotcha - you could just get the whole thing to save you the hassle, or if you're a tight b@stard like me you could just replace the bearing. A single bearing will net you about £3-4 on the Bay, or a quid if you've got a loacl fixings shop.

Also worth bearing in mind is W@nkstanley sometimes send you the wrong part (they sent me replacement pawls for an entirely different hub the other week) 

[76]

Got some bike shops local, are they likely to carry bits for these?

[Dannywhac]

They might have the odd spare bearing that would match up, but as that's a hub that I believe is specific to a certain complete bmx, they're unlikely to stock the actual full replacement kit. If you can be arsed to trawl round them and ask then it's worth a try, failing that use the dreaded Winstanleys 

[76]

Had a scout round locally for bearings most shops said they would just scrap the wheel and renew!

No time or patience trying various options on them from ebay etc so just ordered the repair kit from Winstanleys, who despite their rep I have always had good service from....Time will tell.

[76]

Quick update,

Winstanleys delivered last Friday, good service from them again for me, despite everything I hear!

Fitted it up this week, bit of a bitch as the casing of the sealed bearing was actually still in the wheel and didn't want to budge, ended up with the dremel to release it.  Then just a case of putting back together. Runs really well now, nice bike to ride, I had to test it out didn't I

Thanks for your help Danny.

[Dannywhac]

No probs fella - glad you got it sorted. Dremel - a mans best friend