Over the years I have sold a lot of wheels with the sprockets on them.
I can't tell you how many times I have had customers call or email me saying that the sprocket bolts were no good and that they wanted some money back.
The truth of the matter is the customers didn't know what they were doing and stripped out the bolts.
So, here is a picture showing you what most of these people have done:
DO NOT DO THIS!!!
The Allen head side is not the side you want to torque on.
The torque must be applied on the nut side of the bolt.
That is where you have the most surface contact area and the most strength.
However, before you put any torque to the nut you need to do one thing first:
That's right, heat is your best friend
Why?
Because if the nut is correctly installed it will have thread locker on it.
Depending on the thread locker used it will either be very difficult or nearly impossible to remove it without heat.
How much heat or how long to have the heat on it will depend on the equipment you are using.
My little Map Gas bottle takes about 20-30 seconds per nut.
You do not need to have the spokes removed to do this.
We just happen to have a hub here to demonstrate this procedure.
Just a suggestion, if you don't have the wheel assembled you might want to have someone hold the hub or it may slip out of your hands and the sprocket can do some damage falling just a few feet:
If done correctly the nut should come off with just a little effort:
When in doubt, double check with your maintenance manual.
Questions or comments?
Feel free to post.
SB