Spent 20 minutes cleaning a seized freehub body with simple green and a toothbrush

I had this old Shimano hub that kept making a grinding noise when pedaling. Took the cassette off and the pawls were totally gummed up with dried grease and dirt. Followed a tip from a mechanic at my local shop, soaked the freehub body in Simple Green for 10 minutes, then scrubbed it with an old toothbrush. Got all that sticky gunk out, relubed with light oil, and it spins like new again. Saved me the $50 for a replacement hub. Has anyone else had luck reviving old hubs this way instead of tossing them?

2 comments

2 Comments

paul3306d ago

Nah honestly I'd rather just toss it and get a new one lol. 20 minutes scrubbing with a toothbrush? I dunno, my time is worth more than that even if it's a $50 part. Plus you never know when that thing is gonna seize up again on a ride.

maryadams6d ago

Lol @paul330 I get that but here's the thing nobody's talking about - those old Shimano freehub bodies actually have better quality steel in the pawls than a lot of the cheap replacements you'll find on Amazon these days. I had a buddy who tossed his original hub and bought a $30 knockoff online, and the new one's engagement slipped after like 3 months. Meanwhile I've got a freehub from 2008 that I've cleaned twice just like this and it's still going strong. The Simple Green soak is way less wasteful and honestly kinda satisfying to see all that gunk dissolve. Plus you know exactly what you've got instead of gambling on some mystery metal from a no-name brand.