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DT Swiss Hugi FR Rear Hub Binding

golga

Chimp
Jul 5, 2007
1
0
I've had this hub since November '06 and race downhill with it.
I put the wheel on yesterday and the freehub would bind when I tightened the wheel bolt down. It's just fine if you don't tighten it (at all) but when tightened properly, the hub starts to bind up and won't spin freely.
I took it to my LBS and they took it apart and cleaned it up for me but that didn't help. They said they haven't seen it on this hub before but it looked like I needed a whole new one.
This is on a Ventana El Cuervo and I've checked to see if there is any pinching on the cassette lock ring or anywhere else. There isn't. The only place any pressure is being put is on the axle of the hub and the two black "caps".

Any ideas?
 
Apr 28, 2006
235
0
North White Plains, NY
If it's not pinching the lockring...which is usually the case for problems like this, check to see that the axle itself isn't damaged. Remove the entire axle and check for cracks or an actual break. Also make sire that all the peices of the axle & hub are assembled in the correct order.
 

nickel

Chimp
May 28, 2009
1
0
I had the same problem with a dt swiss hub. A 440 but I suspect it could be the same sort of thing. Basically upon completely disassembling the hub, we realised a small black spacer fit far too snugly. After *carefully* filing away some material and doing some sanding with very fine paper, the proper fit was found and the wheel functioned beautifully from there on out.

I realise the original posters have either found a solution or found new hubs, but perhaps this can help someone...
 

-dustin

boring
Jun 10, 2002
7,155
1
austin
a customer of mine had this problem. i was dumbfounded. kind of annoying as everything seemed correct. took it apart multiple times. forgot what the fix was.
 

Jim Mac

MAKE ENDURO GREAT AGAIN
May 21, 2004
6,352
282
the middle east of NY
I also had a similar issue with my 440. Maybe this info will help? The crux of my issue came from over tightening my axle (I have an R9, the axle bolts into the frame). As the 440 is essentially press fit, the over tightened axle seemed to press the hub more tightly and thus bound up the freewheel. I pulled apart the hub, cleaned it up and put a very small amount of (I think) Phil Wood rock and roll oil on the dust seals then reassembled it. It seemed to roll a lot better with a little less "press fit". Then of course I backed off on the axle torque! Thus far and one race down, I have had no binding issues.

It seems that this is somewhat a common issue with R9's and ring drive hubs.
 
Make sure you cant push the freehub body too far into the actual hub housing. If so you either have a damaged freehub body (most likely) or the hub itself is damaged. the freehub body will pull off the hub fairly easily; chect the outer rim of the freehub and make sure there are no cracks or broken bits on it. If there are it means that it can an will be pushed too far into the hub housing. Now, check the spring under the pawl system and make sure it is seated correctly, then make sure the pawls go back in the correct direction. Lube the inside of the freehub/guts with a small amount shimano mineral oil (yes the pink brake fluid) and slide averything back together.
 

BmxConvert

Monkey
Aug 6, 2007
715
0
Longview, Washington
I had an issue with the hub binding after a rebuild and it turned out to be the pressed in dust seal causing issues. It would bind against the freehub, making it spin horribly slow.
 

dwok

Chimp
Feb 3, 2013
1
0
I had an issue with the hub binding after a rebuild and it turned out to be the pressed in dust seal causing issues. It would bind against the freehub, making it spin horribly slow.
I'm having the very same problem BmxConvert. I took my 370 hub apart to service it and once it was re-assembled the freehub would spin fine until I applied the most minimal pressure to it at which point it would just stiffen right up. At first I thought it might have been the grease so I cleaned it up and used some Shimano mineral oil (brake fluid) but as soon as I tried to tighten it up the freehub again would hardly turn.

I suspect it has something to do with the freehub body being pressed too far into the housing so that when it is tightened it just locks up with the friction. It was all working beforehand so I don't think the axle is broken. I am going to try gently tapping the axle from the other side just to make sure it is sitting out as far as it should be but if that doesn't work I'm a bit stuck.

Did anyone have any luck with this problem??

Cheers,
Duncan.