Chris king rear hub problem

[bluedog18]

I just pick up a Chris king (bontrager label) hub set real cheap. I took the rear apart to see how dirty it was, which it was. I wipe off the dirt and grease and to double check the ring drive. I replace the drive shell back in place and to my surprise it didn't engage at all and spun freely in both directions. I play with & it got it to engage, but I'm a little trouble.

For the most part, the bearings look good and so does the ring drive and the drive rings. I'm thinking the problem is the drive spring is weak and needs to be replaced.

Does that sound about right? By the way anyone wants to sell CK tool for overhauls? :D

[11.4]

You don't really need the tools, and your problem is almost certainly not the drive spring -- those never go bad. Further, realize that the grease in a King hub goes dark almost immediately -- I've never understood quite why but it isn't an indication that your hub is filthy. It may not have been as dirty as you thought.

Chris King hubs show this problem occasionally if dirt gets jammed into the freehub mechanism, but mostly if the lubricant is too thick. Take it apart again and get a spray can of TriFlow. Using the long straw tube on the nozzle, just spray out the mechanism inside well. Definitely do this outside or over an old tin can in the garage -- it's messy. It's not unreasonable to use a quarter or third of a big can, but it really cleans everything out. A toothbrush helps if anything is stuck but is usually not necessary. The TriFlow is really all you need in the freehub though it is noisier than King's Ringlube. I'd reassemble the hub and then check it out. It should work. If you then want to use Ringlube to quiet the hub down, just squirt a small amount of the stuff on each of the bearing sets and the ring assembly inside the freehub (anything that moves, basically). Don't use too much or it just seems to get dirtier quicker and makes a mess anyway.

One other thing, you did tighten the freehub all the way back onto the hub body? It tends to slide in place but usually needs a whack with the palm of your hand to seat it fully. If not seated, it may not engage properly. You usually hear and feel a loud click when it seats. A simple test is to stick the hub in a frame with an accurate 130 mm spacing -- if it doesn't fit, you probably didn't seat the freehub shell completely. If it doesn't want to seat properly, it probably has some dirt on the spiral threads that it mates to in the hub shell itself.

This happens occasionally after a repair, but once assembled and working the hub never fails. I've ridden a couple Chris King hubsets as training wheels for almost 40,000 miles in near-constant rain and except for an occasionally relubrication (about once a year -- and never using more than the 5 mm allen wrenches and TriFlow) they have needed no service, no parts, no nothing. These are about as bulletproof as you can get. I saw a pair that had been used on an around-the-world trek bike and came back with African mud encrusted on it and a cassette that was so worn it looked like shark's teeth but it just hummed along fine.

[bluedog18]

I just gave it a quick wipe down last night and was planning on giving it a good bath today when I had time. I know that their white grease turn dark real quick but the grease was thick and crusty. Like you said I probably got dirt stuck in the ring drive. The freehub did click in place with no problems.

I'll give a good cleaning today and sounds like that should take care of the problem.

Thanks