I bought a Sunrace Freewheel in the summer and basically it was crap and broke. I took it apart and one of the pawls had broken. Then I had the idea of putting the outer body on a shimano inner body somebody had given me and it worked well. Anyway it went on a bike for a youngster I know.
Anyway I needed another freewheel so I thought I'll do the same and bought another Sunrac freewheel only to then find that I can't find the bloody Shot Shimano freewheel I thought I had. So I decided to look in the Sunrace freewheel to see why the pawl brok. It had no real grease in it and it was dirty and crappy inside with small bits of metal. I'm guessing it's made in pretty poor conditions. It was also about 3 bearings short in each set, so I've cleaned it changed the bearings and I'll greased it up and I'll see how it goes.
I don't really want to buy a second hand one off fleabay and I wondered if anybody else has or does use these Sunrace Freewheels?
Sunrace Freewheels
Re: Sunrace Freewheels
Relevant post from Brucey with regard to making sure they are properly shimmed before use: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=68142&p=582943&hilit=sunrace+shimmed#p582943
High on a cocktail of flossy teacakes and marmalade
Re: Sunrace Freewheels
FWIW I've seen freewheels of many makes that failed prematurely. for all kinds of reasons. They really do make them very cheaply.
I've seen freewheels in which there was a deficit of about 15 balls in one ballrace; these freewheels would fail in a few days if they were used without being attended to. [Often you can tell if it is that bad without taking the freewheel apart, by sliding a thin shim into the bearing through the gap, and seeing how far you can move it.]
Its worth noting that if you have two pawls 180 degrees apart (which is how most freewheels come) the time when the pawls are most likely to break is arguably when the freewheel is brand new. The reason for this is that this is the time that the pawls are least likely to both engage simultaneously, or if they do, to share the load evenly.
Most LBSs have a scrap bin full of cheap freewheels that are just worn out. These make a good source for pawls etc; the pawls in many freewheels can be interchanged, but it is important to make sure that they are the exact same length as one another when fitted as a pair.
cheers
I've seen freewheels in which there was a deficit of about 15 balls in one ballrace; these freewheels would fail in a few days if they were used without being attended to. [Often you can tell if it is that bad without taking the freewheel apart, by sliding a thin shim into the bearing through the gap, and seeing how far you can move it.]
Its worth noting that if you have two pawls 180 degrees apart (which is how most freewheels come) the time when the pawls are most likely to break is arguably when the freewheel is brand new. The reason for this is that this is the time that the pawls are least likely to both engage simultaneously, or if they do, to share the load evenly.
Most LBSs have a scrap bin full of cheap freewheels that are just worn out. These make a good source for pawls etc; the pawls in many freewheels can be interchanged, but it is important to make sure that they are the exact same length as one another when fitted as a pair.
cheers
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~