That horrible grinding noise coming from your freehub ?

Time taken: 30-45min

Difficulty Rating:

Tools Required

10mm allen key, shimano cassette lock ring tool, chain whip, small flat screwdriver, new bearings (cups if required), rags and some decent quality grease.

Step one: Remove rear wheel. Remove quick release skewer completely (reassemble and put to one side so not to lose springs). Use chain whip and lock ring tool to remove rear cassette. Be careful not to rip your knuckles on the cassette.

Step two: Remove rubber seal from axle using screwdriver and place to one side. Undo the axle nuts using the cone spanners. Take care to note position of washers. Slide axle carefully out from the hub. Remove all bearings from hub using screwdriver. There should be 9 per side. Discard old bearings. Whilst you have the axle removed, give it a good clean with a rag and some degreaser. Inspect the bearing surfaces for wear. If they are not too bad, a clean with a light abrasive i.e. wire wool should do the trick. However if the surfaces are badly scored then this is the time to replace.

Step Three: With the axle and bearings now removed, insert the 10mm Allen key inside the freehub body and turn in a counter clockwise direction to remove the bolt holding the freehub body. The freehub can now be removed and launched into the nearest bin. Clean the face of the hub flange with a rag and some degreaser. Fit the new freehub on to its spline. This should slide on easily if you have taken care to clean everything properly. Grease the bolt and then fasten tightly.

Step Four: The trickiest part. Apply grease liberally to the bearing seats of the hub. Using your fingers, insert bearing one at a time ensuring that no bearings fall inside the hub. If you happen to drop any bearings inside (you most likely will), use the screwdriver to retrieve them and start again. The grease will help hold the bearings in place. Carefully insert
the axle back in through the drive side (freehub side) taking extreme care not to knock any bearings out of place and fasten inner nut finger tight to hold the axle in place. Refit washers and outer locknut. Ideally the inner nut should be tightened far enough to stop play in the axle but not too tight as to affect the smooth running of the bearings. Using the cone spanners, tighten outer locknut against the inner. Check the wheel is running smoothly by placing back on you bike and spinning up. Also check for any play in the axle by moving wheel from side to side. Adjust bearings accordingly.

Step five: Refit rubber dust cover and cassette. Tighten lockring and refit skewer. You should now have a super smooth rear wheel just like when you first rode it.