How to oil coaster brake

[HotRodJen]

Alrighty i have a 49 Schwinn balloon tire and i read someones post about a sluggish coaster brake and some of you recomended to oil it ..
well how do you oil those and what type of oil works best ? since i live and ride in PA it kinda got a little hairy going down hill with a bike that doesnt want to stop for ya

 

[rick74304]

Heya Jen, in the middle of the hub between the 2 sets of spokes there might be a spout with a simple cap, if your wheel has that, then thats where you oil from (any light oil will work, like 10w30 ) if you dont have an oil nub, then you're best option is to tear it down, clean everything, and rebuild.
Sure, you could lay it on its side, and try to sneak some oil in around the axle cone, but odds are you will also wash some kinda grunge n dirt in right along with the oil.
Hope that helps,
Rick

 

[HotRodJen]

yup i have the little nub there .. thanks about letting me know about the 10 30 got some of that laying around

hope this makes it stop better

 

[Wildcat]

I oiled the hub on my daughter's robin hood one speed, and the brakes became 100% better, they stop on a dime now.

 

[karfer67]

carefull using multi weight oils some can cause the hub to seize up at high speed when you hit the brakes hard. if you had not had the oil port you lay the bike on it's side and use an oiler to drip some in between the flanges. 8)

 

[sensor]

carefull using multi weight oils some can cause the hub to seize up at high speed when you hit the brakes hard.

ohh great :roll:
i guess that c hub you gave me is coming apart again......

 

[karfer67]

just think back to the movie speed only other way around. dont go over 25 mph and your fine. cross that line and it will blow. hey sensor is it not too obvious i have had a few or what?

 

[sensor]

:lol: :lol: :lol:
what?!?! you?!?!? never!

 

[karfer67]

uh oh swerving keyboard watchout ohhhhhh noooo wallllll bgtrfhdrgthrtjhyrjkulk,lklfujkrdyhrt (head bouncing off keyboard) oh and the oil thing i am pulling your skip link chain any motor oil will do well maybe not all i would imagine if you are in a real cold climate pouring 50wt oil it would come out like molasis (sorry cant spell)

 

[bikesntrikes]

Perhaps diesel oil is better. It doesn't have as much detergent as the conventional oils.

I have a similar sloppy brake issue on a Schwinn. The rear hub has that little nipple. Does this piece unscrew and then oil is poured in? I just want to make sure I have as much direction before I tackle this project and completely mess it up.

 

[rick74304]

From Sheldon Brown's website;
3-speed hubs always need oil lubrication. The sound of the ticking pawls is a good indicator of the state of lubrication of the hub. If the pawls have a loud, bright tick, the hub may be dry or may have been oiled with too light an oil. A very dull, quiet tick may indicate a hub that has become gunked up with old, dried-up oil. In extreme cases, a hub that has sat unused for a long period of time may get its freewheel pawls stuck, so that it freewheels forward, particularly in low gear. This can often be corrected by lubricating with a fairly light oil and letting it work in.
Link to the article here; http://sheldonbrown.com/sturmey-archer.html
Rick
Edit; forgot to add, you're most likely to find your specific hub info somewhere in this post; http://ratrodbikes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1162

 

[skoda]

I got my feet wet servicing coaster hubs by taking them apart on wheels I wasn't going to use.

Get a thrift store bike with a coaster hub, take it apart and try to pull everything apart slowly and carefully. Clean it and grease it, put it back together. If it feels like it went ok, you'll probably want to try your rider out.

Be careful taking apart the old New Departure hubs though, go slow and try to pull the guts out with the axle horizontal (paralel to the ground) otherwise all of the little discs inside will slide off and fall everywhere.

The discs are usually glued together with a bunch of nasty looking old grease, but if you oiled it already....

 

[12bcruzin]

And something to consider...the brake action is telling you something. Sometimes just adding the oil loosens everything up and all is good but I would still recommend taking the hub apart and going through it. If the action is sluggish, more than likely the grease has separated into a chalky mess and needs to cleaned out and re-greased. Also, if you ride in a hilly area, it would be a good idea to inspect the brake discs if it is a New Departure.

 

[roadmaster]

yeah, when in doubt, learn to rebuild. the regular coaster brakes are pretty simple, just remember how everything came out and put the shoes back in th eright way. as for the new departure types with the discs, do go slow and be carefull. and it takes a patient set of hand sto get it all back together.