Grunderneuerung von Schraubkranzfreiläufen: Unterschied zwischen den Versionen

At the outer end of the freewheel, you should see a ring with two holes in it for a pin spanner to fit into. This is usually the ring which has the brand name of the freewheel marked, and may also have an arrow pointing clockwise, and the word "remove" in one language or another. If you don't see such a ring, you may need to remove the smallest sprocket to gain access to it. This is common on freewheels with 13 tooth or smaller sprockets. If you don't have a pin spanner that fits the small holes in the freewheel's outer plate, you may use a hammer and punch -- or a 12-penny nail or even an old flat-blade screwdriver -- alternately in one hole, then the other, to drive the ring in a clockwise direction.

The ring is actually a bearing cone with a left ("reverse") thread, and once you have removed it you will see a ring of 1/8" bearing balls and a stack of shims (very thin washers) surrounding the threads that the cone threaded on to. You can remove one or more of the shim washers to make the bearing tighter, if the freewheel has too much play.

Are the shims trapped underneath the bearing balls? If so, you will have to remove the bearing balls before you can remove a shim, and replace shims before installing bearing balls. You can remove the bearing balls with a magnet, or turn the freewheel over far enough to spill out the bearing balls, while holding the outer body so it doesn't fall off.

To disassemble further, just lift off the cluster of sprockets at this point and the innards will be revealed to you, including another row of 1/8" balls (which will probably fall out) at the base of the freewheel, and two or three spring-loaded pawls which make the ratchet work. In the photo below, the red arrow points to one of the pawls and the blue arrow points to the bearing race at the back of the inner body.

The next photo is of the inner body with the pawls removed. One of the pawl springs is visible.

Here are the small parts: the outer bearing race (the ring which you removed in the first step of disassembly -- here looking at its back side), the shims, and the pawls. These pawls have grooves on the underside to engage the pawl springs. The pawl springs on this SunTour freewheel are attached to pins at their base, and stay in place. The pawl springs of some freewheels will come off too, while in others, the pawls and pawl springs are not removable..