SHould you tighten your cranks as much as you can or is it possible to overtighten your cranks? What are your suggestions?
I’ve never heard of over tightening the cranks i always tighten them as far as i can
You can get an allen socket at sears
Use a torque wrench and tighten the crank bolt to 35 foot /pounds. If it is a tapered spline (ISIS), smack the crank on tight with a soft mallet first, to seat the splines together.
If you tighten the crank bolt enough it will break in half, and getting the broke part out can be a pain.
I always torque mine to 50lbs, ride, torque again, ride, and torque. They stay tight afer that.
I’d first clean the threads on both the bolts and hub w/ rubbing alcohol, then tourque it to 45 lbs w/ blue Loctight and let it set overnight before riding it.
There is a lot of lore out there about crank tightening for both cotter-less (square taper) axles and splined axles. Use the search function and you’ll dig up a variety of techniques, some healthy, some not. I assume you are talking about square taper hubs. I use some light grease on the tapers. I attach the cranks and lay the unicycle down on a concrete surface so the bottom crank is on a piece of wood to avoid scratching. I smack the top crank with a mallet or put another piece of wood on it and smack that with a hammer. I flip it over and repeat. Then I put on the nuts or put in the bolts. These I tighten using the force I can muster squeezing the ratchet handle towards the crank with my hands. This means that my hands are wrapped around both the ratchet handle and the crank and I squeeze. I can develop the most torque unassisted that way. Ride and repeat three times.