Hi all, I'm planning on taking the rear hub out at some point over winter and wanted to ask a couple of things before I dive in. 1st is has anyone done a step by step of the process as I have seen posts mentioning it being a bit of a bugger to move and also a big circlip somewhere so any detailed guidance would be much appreciated. 2nd is once I've got it out and cleaned everything what grease do you recommend to smear round the hub etc? Cheers in advance.
I did this on my DVT a couple of years ago, it's a reasonably simple, if not time a consuming task. From memory: slacken both axle nuts, remove rear wheel, remove rear caliper, loosen hub pinch bolts and slacken chain, remove sprocket and carrier as one (no need to undo the 6 sprocket nut), remove spacer and inner ring from behind sprocket carrier, remove axle with brake disc from rh side, you'll now see the infamous circlip!! Remove circlip noting which side faces out as apparently it's chamfered on one side, remove the caliper bracket with 2 spacers and rubber O ring from the hub noting their position. The hub can now be removed from the lh side of the swingarm, it may need persuading, by opening up the gap a little where the pinch bolts are. Refitting is reverse, I used a good quality grease on hub / swingarm surfaces and axle parts and rubber grease on the "o" ring, when refitting the caliper bracket be sure that it locates onto the peg on the swingarm. The difficult bit is refitting the circlip, while trying to hold the 2 spaces,"o" ring and caliper bracket on the end of the hub, even using large circlip pliers the circlip wants to twist, after several attempts, walk away and come back later, it will go on so much easier! Good luck! Should have taken more photos.
Kartman that's awesome, thanks. Feel a lot more confident about doing it now. I'm handy with the spanners but it's always good to have a detailed process. I've got some red rubber grease on order and have some quality normal grease in the garage so all sorted. Just need to find a free Sunday to give it a go. Great tip for refitting the circlip too. I will also drill out the swing arm drain hole whilst I'm at it.
Emphasis on large circlip pliers referred to by @kartman . You may find you will have to buy some when you see the size of the bugger which in my case meant stopping mid job until they were delivered. TB
Cheers Topbox, can you remember which ones you bought. I have some circlip pliers already but just the normal small pliers size so it sounds like they won't be big enough.
Forgot, I had the same issue as TB, managed to get the circlip removed with pliers I already had but had to get these sent to enable refitting: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/272513698473 even with these it was still a struggle!
For me the two greatest pains were the refitting of the circlip (not removing it) and the removal of the hub itself from the swing arm. It wouldn't budge at all. After I removed it (using several good hits with a mallet) I understood why: totally dry and with loads of road grime in between. After a good cleanup I used a lot of grease (just normal grease but you may want to opt for the anti-seize variety) to make sure it doesn't happen again. I will find out if that worked the next time I attempt it. If you find the task a bit daunting, just take notes and lay everything cleanly on a bench (preferably numbering the actual steps so you can follow them backwards afterwards). There is no strange or peculiar action in the whole disassembly, just stubborn parts that won't budge (or refuse to go back in their place. The circlip is one such part. The tolerance of the groove where the circlip goes is very small). I remember that I needed big circlip pliers (in the range of 50-60mm that open the circlip outwards). When removing the hub you can provide some assistance to yourself by pushing a small wedge in the gap at the end of the swingarm (after you completely unscrew the two bolts that tighten it). It will open the arm more and lessen the friction between the arm and the hub. Make sure you have plenty of time. It may test your fitness ...
Cheers for more great tips, really appreciate it. I'll set a weekend aside and get any tools etc ready so I have everything to hand. May even take loads of pics and put it on here.
Wow, they're serious. Pity they'll only be used from time to time although they could be one of those tools you think you'll hardly use but then wonder how you lived without them. Cheers for the link. Good price too for a quality tool particularly circlip pliers as cheap ones shouldn't even be on the shelves in my opinion.
I used these 9 inch pliers but 13 inch would probably have been better. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4pc-Larg...849758?hash=item56c423859e:g:c3kAAOSwxvtcv03K TB
This is great thread, as I'm planning to change the chain & sprockets this winter and plan to service the hub at the same time. Thanks guys!
tzoykas, I'm not sure slapping a load of grease in there is a good idea. Granted the grease might help avoid corrosion and it getting seized, but any bits of dirt, grit etc will now become captured in the grease, and make quite a nice lapping compound. A better solution would have been to spray it all with a thin anti-corrosion spray. Fingers crossed for you that I'm wrong
When I opened mine, there was a lot of grime in the channel between the two tightening screws (exactly above the dreaded hole that lets in water and mud) and minimal in the rest of the hub body. I believe the latter was transferred the numerous times I actually rotated my hub for chain adjustments as there is practically no space for the grime to seep in. Now that I have an oiler installed, I still have to adjust my chain after a good 25K kms (the oiler made a tremendous difference in chain condition). So I believe that I am safe, although I do agree about the grease being a mud/grime magnet. I'll definitely have a look next time I change my chain and If I remember I will comment on that. Besides, the service manual suggests greasing the outer body of the hub before refitting. The actual text is this: "GREASE B Molybdenum disulphide grease, high mechanical stress and high temperature resistant. SHELL Retinax HDX2"
Searching through youtube I found this great video. It's not Multistrada specific but I believe it's (very) close enough and the information there is invaluable (you can clearly see when he is removing the circlip about what I was talking earlier. Even with a very small area of the circlip in the groove it's quite difficult to remove it, let alone put it back).
Nice link, thanks for sharing. Just to explain, greasing the mating surfaces like he did is ok. Slapping a load of grease around the central part would not be (imo). The correct thing to do would be to put some thick (I. E. Not LM) grease up the tube on the bottom and lower edges. That then traps the dirt away from the hub. I notice he has greased the threads for his rear hub nuts too. Not recommended as it will potentially result in the nut being done up too tight if torqued up. For anyone else looking to do this, when putting the hub back in it goes in much easier without the need for a hammer if you wedge a screwdriver in the slot to open the swinging arm up slightly. Hope that helps ☺
John, I agree. however, the problem seems to be entirely the hole at the underside of the swingarm. There was no trace of grime on the outer parts of the hub (at least in my experience). Also the manual states that the hub threads should be greased (when changing your tyres for example) before the nut goes back. However, it's true that the grease may let the nut be tightened too much but I would expect this to be the case only when an impact gun is used. I changed my tyres a couple of days ago and the nut went off really easily (I had used anti seize grease on mine the last time the wheel was off).
The hole at the bottom of the swingarm, beneath the hub, is there to drain water from inside the swingarm, unfortunately it gets clogged with road crud and gravel which enters from the large hole in the top of the swingarm near the top chain guide. Maybe there is a good reason for that large hole to be there but I can't think of one!!
Having mined checked and cleaned whilst it's with Alec at Ducat Pro Team, having a minor service, fork oil and all round check over.
