Kick back hub slipping

[Ron]

Hi all,
Good evening. What would cause a red band two speed "kick back" hub to slip or skip, not engage to low gear?
When peddling in high gear, I "kick back" to engage the low gear and nothing grabs, like pedaling with no chain, I try kicking back again and again and finally low gear engages.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again,
Ron

 

[Ron]

We're getting there.
Worlds most expensive Resto, my first and last,,, lol!

 

[THE STIG]

You need a new index spring

 

[Heatwave]

Yup, Jamie's right... All 3 flat tabs and all 3 90 degree tabs on the index spring must be intact. When you take it apart and put it together without the hub shell you will see how it works.

 

[J-wagon]

For disassembly, need make/buy locknut removal tool like this:

 

[Ron]

Good morning men,
Thank you for the information, fingers crossed.

 

[100bikes]

I have both the tool and spring available.
rusty

 

[Schwinn Sales West]

The spring you are talking about is called the Indexing Spring. It's purpose is to hold the drive clutch apart when reversing the pedals allowing it to shift. It is by far the most common failure part in any of the three Bendix Automatic versions.

But..........it does not cause slipping as the original poster outlined. Several things need to be checked. The hub could just need a good cleaning and some new (not heavy grease) lubrication. If the two drive clutches do not screw freely on the two drivers, the retarder springs will slip and not move the clutches "in and out", causing the slipping. You need to test the hub shell for wear. If the taper inside the hub shell is worn (there's actually two different drive tapers) no amount of new parts will fix the hub shell problem. Hub shell drive wear was a problem with this hub. You can hold the clutches in with one hand in a partially assembled hub and apply some torque with a chain whip to the sprocket to test for hub wear. It's easy to tell if it's worn beyond use.

You need to clean the hub first, then diagnose the actual problem, before you start tossing new parts blindly at it.

 

[bloo]

I agree. I have fixed that problem by disassembling the hub, thoroughly cleaning it out and relubricating. I do think the indexing spring needs a good close inspection, as they are often damaged. Make sure all the tabs are still there. Look the retarder springs over real good as well.

 

[Ron]

The spring you are talking about is called the Indexing Spring. It's purpose is to hold the drive clutch apart when reversing the pedals allowing it to shift. It is by far the most common failure part in any of the three Bendix Automatic versions.

But..........it does not cause slipping as the original poster outlined. Several things need to be checked. The hub could just need a good cleaning and some new (not heavy grease) lubrication. If the two drive clutches do not screw freely on the two drivers, the retarder springs will slip and not move the clutches "in and out", causing the slipping. You need to test the hub shell for wear. If the taper inside the hub shell is worn (there's actually two different drive tapers) no amount of new parts will fix the hub shell problem. Hub shell drive wear was a problem with this hub. You can hold the clutches in with one hand in a partially assembled hub and apply some torque with a chain whip to the sprocket to test for hub wear. It's easy to tell if it's worn beyond use.

You need to clean the hub first, then diagnose the actual problem, before you start tossing new parts blindly at it.

Thank you sir, hopefully I wasn't sold a worn hub, fingers crossed.