DT Swiss hubs changeroo

[tsarpepe]

New to bike mechanics, so bear with me.
I have 2 DT Swiss wheelsets; one uses the old ratchet system (on a 240 hub), the other one has a 3-pawl mechanism. Question: will the freehub bodies be interchangeable between the two wheelsets?

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by tsarpepe

New to bike mechanics, so bear with me.
I have 2 DT Swiss wheelsets; one uses the old ratchet system (on a 240 hub), the other one has a 3-pawl mechanism. Question: will the freehub bodies be interchangeable between the two wheelsets?

Negative

[joevers]

Originally Posted by tsarpepe

New to bike mechanics, so bear with me.
I have 2 DT Swiss wheelsets; one uses the old ratchet system (on a 240 hub), the other one has a 3-pawl mechanism. Question: will the freehub bodies be interchangeable between the two wheelsets?

Yes and no.

You can install a star ratchet freehub on a 3 pawl hub provided you swap the ring nut corresponding to the correct freehub and vice versa. For DT hubs, there is a splined interface called the ring nut that threads into the hub shell. The 370 hubs and others come with the 3 pawl ring nut installed, and the 350/240/180 come with the star ratchet ring nut installed.

Edit: I misread the question. Freehub bodies are either meant for star ratchet or 3 pawl hubs, and can not be converted. You can however move each freehub between bikes, but it is substantial work as you need to move the ring nuts and star ratchets between hubs to do so. The tools are expensive and the ring nuts are quite difficult to physically remove.

[muttley]

As Joevers mentioned, it is a yes and no. You can convert DT paw freehub bodies to use a ratchet system and vice versa but not easily. For one, each system uses a different "ring nut" that is threaded into the hub body, the tool required to install/remove each of these is about $80. I had a DT 360 pawl (Giant OEM spec, not to be confused with the DT 350 that is ratchet) wheel that I converted to ratchet. For me, it wasn't too expensive since I had my LBS swap the ring nuts and I already had a ratchet cassette body and ratchet parts.

What I really like about DT ratchet systems is just how easily I can remove a rear wheel, pull on the cassette and remove the entire assembly (plus the two springs and ratchet rings) and swap it onto another wheel quickly and easily. If this is what you are after, it can be done.

[yinzerniner]

Originally Posted by joevers

Edit: I misread the question. Freehub bodies are either meant for star ratchet or 3 pawl hubs, and can not be converted. You can however move each freehub between bikes, but it is substantial work as you need to move the ring nuts and star ratchets between hubs to do so. The tools are expensive and the ring nuts are quite difficult to physically remove.

Originally Posted by muttley

As Joevers mentioned, it is a yes and no. You can convert DT pawl freehub bodies to use a ratchet system and vice versa but not easily. For one, each system uses a different "ring nut" that is threaded into the hub body, the tool required to install/remove each of these is about $80. I had a DT 360 pawl (Giant OEM spec, not to be confused with the DT 350 that is ratchet) wheel that I converted to ratchet. For me, it wasn't too expensive since I had my LBS swap the ring nuts and I already had a ratchet cassette body and ratchet parts. .

Another thing to note is the difference in freehub and hub shell body design between Pawl and Ratchet. Ratchet hub bodies have the seal integrated, while pawl hub bodies don't, and vice versa for freehubs: ratchet freehub bodies don't have the seal, while the pawl freehub bodies have seals.

The new Ratchet LN kit solves a lot of the earlier issues, as it comes with the ring nut, springs, grease, and sealed freehub body but will work as a ratchet drive. Still need access to the ring drive removal tool though.
https://bikerumor.com/dt-swiss-expan...tb-kit-option/

[.RJ]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

Negative

Incorrect. DT sells an upgrade kit.

[yinzerniner]

Originally Posted by .RJ

Incorrect. DT sells an upgrade kit.

Your incorrect is incorrect. The original question was:

Originally Posted by tsarpepe

I have 2 DT Swiss wheelsets; one uses the old ratchet system (on a 240 hub), the other one has a 3-pawl mechanism. Question: will the freehub bodies be interchangeable between the two wheelsets?

And no, the ratchet freehub/hub body and 3 pawl freehub/hub body are NOT interchangeable. The OP will either need to change the hub body internals or the freehub body, and even then they won't be fully "interchangeable" due to the seal design differences.

[.RJ]

ah yep. responded too quickly.