Bent hanger… can it be repaired? or needs to be replaced?

RockiMtn · Mar 19, 2016

Have this RM Hammer (of 95 vintage I believe) in decent condition. No dents or dings from quick inspection. But the hanger has been properly banged out of place. :?

Looks to be pulled back significantly, opening the dropout wide. And warped in a awful wavy inward manner.

So my question is… can it safely be bent and reshaped back into proper alignment? Or does it need to be completely removed and replaced with a new one?

Lastly, is it even worth the trouble to salvage this??? :?

Retro junkie · Mar 20, 2016

Re:

i would say it can be repaired. heat it up gently and just bend it back into shape should be ok

hamster · Mar 21, 2016

Easily saved. I have cold set worse (on the side of a hill when a stick got into my rear wheel). The hanger was completely upside down.

As you have it stripped and at home some heat definitely helps. If you are not confident take it to a framebuilder.

RockiMtn · Mar 21, 2016

feedback noted, cheers!

legrandefromage · Mar 21, 2016

I've bent back far worse too with no known issues afterward:

dyna-ti · Mar 22, 2016

Mind and heat it, even if its only a hairdryer. No metal likes being bashed about cold.

mattr · Mar 22, 2016

Get two axles. Locate one between the dropouts. Correct spacing with pairs of lock nuts. Tighten it down on the non drive side so you get a sort of size/space/location spigot. This will stop you closing up the dropout when you bend it.
Thread the other axle into the hanger. Heat the whole thing up, be prepared to lose the paint.

Grip the axle (big pair of workmans gloves is what i used) and bend it back in one smooth steady motion.

Then tweak with an alignment tool.

RockiMtn · Jun 4, 2016

Re:

gonna have a go at this today… wish me luck.

for heat, how much are we talking about that needs to be applied? should i take a torch to it, or would a 1500w heat gun suffice???

dyna-ti · Jun 4, 2016

:shock: OMG NOOOOOOOO

A hairdryer is fine. No more than hot to touch.

RockiMtn · Jun 4, 2016

good thing i asked before moving forward with this!

so why do blacksmiths put metal into hot coals before bashing them to shape/bend them? isn't that a LOT of heat? i assumed i was doing somewhat the same to this. :?

Bent hanger… can it be repaired? or needs to be replaced?

RockiMtn

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