Replacing bearings on Bitex hubs and fixing a ding on the rim hook

I have some wheels with Bitex 106F/R off the forum. I had a look at the freehub and it's called in grease and muck.
Was going to attack with some degreaser, but will that bugger up the bearing? Should I take this opportunity to replace the bearings, and if so, wheres a good source for bearings and whG do I need to get them out and the new ones in?

Give yourself an easy life - just clean it with rag.

I'm all for the easy life but this is the state of it

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The pawls are pretty caked and don't Spring back into place

Also, what's the best way to fix a ding on the rim hook? It's an alloy Kinlin rim

Take the retaining ring out and clean the palls and springs by hand. Try not to drop them :)

Retaining ring? Could you point it out. Don't really know my way around hubs just yet.

Look at Hope hub servicing videos on YouTube. They are a similar construction and will answer most of your questions here.

Cheers

In the groove that runs around the party end of the freehub there’s a split ring of fine gauge wire that keeps the palls in place. You can lift it out with a pick. Then the palls and springs fall out.

That said if that much gunk has got in to the back of it the bearings in the freehub and hub are probably a bit wrecked. Check for gritttyness

Yeah, one of the bearings, one closet to the freehub on the hub defo feels gritty. I'll give it another wipe down and check.

Best not crack open the whiskey till after the job is done

So, sat down and took off the retaining ring and pulled out the pawls and springs. Three of the six springs were broken so that wasn't a good start. A fourth one is somewhere on the kitchen floor and I can't locate. Am I basically buggered, or can these springs be sourced?

Should be able to get them from somewhere...alternative might be to buy a new hub and swap the free hubs out.

Managed to source a new pawl/spring set online despite another seller telling me I had to buy a new freehub so that's good. Just trying to get some info on how to remove and press in new bearings before I buy them. Hopefully won't require my needing to buy new tools to do the job. Hopefully I can just use a punch to get them out and bodge something to press them back in.

Now about fixing the ding on the rim...

You can punch drift them out then re-use the old bearing to drift the new one in with a vice or threaded rod with bolts / washers on top.

Cheers, all new skills to add to the repertoire :)

There's a lot of tutorials online. I normally use a wrench and a flat piece of metal.
Too late I guess but does that freehub deserve saving? Looks crusty

It's mostly mud at best as I can tell. I've since got at it with degreaser and it's looking pristine.

When you knock the bearings out, use wd40 and put the freehub on a piece of sacrificial wood or cardboard rather than on metal. Go slow, because if you whack at it hard you might break or damage the freehub body. Good tips above about using the old bearing to press in the new ones.

Pic of the rim?

I presume this is to elevate the freehub so the bearing actually comes out so I'm not just bashing it into the table. Will need to take it slow.

Upon review again, it's not that bent out, but my OCD can't handle it.

Also, on truing, these have bladed spokes. Do I need one of those wee little tools to hold the spoke in place as I twist the nipple around?

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I presume this is to elevate the freehub so the bearing actually comes out so I'm not just bashing it into the table. Will need to take it slow.

Secondarily. My main concern would be misjudging the force transferred to the outer edge of the freehub when hammering a seized bearing. The threaded edge isn’t that thick nor that tough, and I’ve broken a chunk off of a stubborn freehub before by hammering with it positioned against an anvil instead of, eg, a bit of wood that it could dig into.

Doesn’t look too bad but, as with all advice in the forum, it’s all at the user’s risk.

If you don’t have a disc rotor straightener, you can use an adjustable wrench and a thin bit of wood (like an ice lolly stick) to straighten that rim. If at home, I would use a hair drier to heat that section up a tad, then set the stick along the outside of the rim, and use the wrench to apply gentle firm pressure to centre of the dent to straighten it out. Be aware that the stick is there to prevent the wrench from touching and digging into the outside of your rim, and you’ll want to keep an eye on it. There’s also a chance that the wrench might scratch the top edge of the rim, but you can use another lolly stick to prevent that.