Crazy tight freewheel

[Mickey1980]

Hello, everyone.
I am changing a 6sp freewheel to a 7sp freewheel on my kid's bike. The only problem I can't take the old one off. I know it might be tight, but to that degree...? I have tried to hold a wheel while applying a breaker bar with the removal tool. Also tried to put the removal tool in the vice and rotate the wheel. Didn't work - had concerns of breaking spokes at the rim when holding the wheel. The wheel is 20' only, so not a lot of leveragee.
Any other tricks out there to remove it without damage to the wheel?

PS trying to unscrew counter clockwise.

[Thoglette]

You're doing most of what Sheldon recommends.

Leave a tyre & tube on.
Put a skewer in (or do up the nut) to retain the removal tool.
Mount the tool in the bench vice.
HEAVE on the wheel. Hard! Eventually it will let go.

Or you'll have to take the freewheel apart and cut the core from the wheel.

I've had not much luck in trying to get penetrating oil into these threads.

[10speedsemiracer]

With a tyre mounted on the rim, have the wheel vertically against a wall and the ground simultaneously and wedge it in with your leg near a corner, so that when you lean on the breaker bar your direction of rotation is forcing the wheel/tyre into the wall.
I've found that having the breaker bar near vertical (about 11 o'clock), and pushing towards the wall and down, usually breaks a freewheel loose.

[Duck!]

Also tried to put the removal tool in the vice and rotate the wheel. Didn't work - had concerns of breaking spokes at the rim when holding the wheel. The wheel is 20' only, so not a lot of leveragee.

A 20-foot wheel would have a shedload of leverage..... I suspect you mean20".

I find this to be the most successful. You will need a lot of grunt, but the spokes will handle it. I've only ever had problems with breaking spokes when the wheel already has several broken. Keep the tyre on to give you more grip on the wheel, but make sure it's firmly inflated so it doesn't slip on the rim, which can rip the valve stem out of the tube.

[Mickey1980]

Thanks, everyone!
Putting the wheel against the wall and pushing hard with the bar made it in the end! I wonder who could tighten it up to that extreme in a kid's bike!?

[ValleyForge]

Thanks, everyone!
Putting the wheel against the wall and pushing hard with the bar made it in the end! I wonder who could tighten it up to that extreme in a kid's bike!?

Boofheads who don't lube threads.

[MelodyWheels]

If you're throwing away the freewheel anyway, I've had a lot of success with destructive freewheel removal.

[ironhanglider]

I'm so tough I removed a freewheel from a tandem hub!

Cheers,

Cameron

[find_bruce]

I'm so tough I removed a freewheel from a tandem hub!

Cheers,

Cameron

Did it take 2 of you ?

[10speedsemiracer]

I'm so tough I removed a freewheel from a tandem hub!

Cheers,

Cameron

Hasta la Vista...baby

[ironhanglider]

I'm so tough I removed a freewheel from a tandem hub!

Cheers,

Cameron

Did it take 2 of you ?

I could have certainly used a hand. I thought I was going to rip the vice from the workbench. I put enough torque into it to lift one of the bench legs 15cm off the floor before the freewheel finally broke free.

What was worse, was that after all that there was a crack in the hub so I couldn't use it anyway.

Cheers,

Cameron.