I just set about pulling off the cranks on my 24" Nimbus whatever, because the bearings were noisy and needed changing out. The crank removal tool has this removable tip (God knows why it is removable, and only held on by a small internal o-ring! “Pack-tool CCP-22”, avoid it like the plague.) On the first crank, the tip buried itself halfway into the axle thread, and had to be wrenched out with Vise-Grips.
On the second crank it buried itself ALL the way into the axle thread, and nothing will get the bastard out, short of welding something to it so it can be pulled out. Which I am not going to do. So, now I have a ruined hub and a ruined crank puller. There is nothing worse than shitty tools and bad design. Or did I do something wrong? I used to be a bike mechanic back in my college days, but that was in another century.
Sounds like if you buried the tool ALL the way into the axle thread, you may be correct. The hub and puller may be destroyed.
The correct tool for a ISIS crank is a Park Tool CCP-44 Spline Crank Puller. The CCP-22 may have worked with a correctly sized washer or spacer over the end of the axle.
Thank you both for pointing out the correct tool. I just realized that there is still one ray of hope left: I can try one of those screw extractors, screw it into the opening of the stuck tip and try to back it out of the axle threads. The proverbial Hail Mary pass, no? I do feel like an idiot for thinking that all crank pullers are alike.
Yes, an ‘easy-out’ might get it out if you can get it to take a hold. Hopefully you can get one that works.
You also get extractors meant for taking out Pozidrive/Phillips screws with damaged heads that you drill into the head of the screw and they back it out in the same way as a ‘conventional’ easy-out is supposed to.
Looking at the Park tool, I notice there is what looks like a small through hole in the part, you might be able to get a small tap to start in that and pull it, it might be easier to get that to grip than a screw extractor.
Failing that you could always resort to trying to drill the thing out, assuming you don’t push it deeper and make things worse. If you went with a drill only a little bigger than the hole it might snatch at take hold so you can get it out without completely drilling it. If you got a big enough hole through it you might be able to hook something under it and pull it. (I’m assuming of course there isn’t a through hole already from the other side or you would have knocked it out already… :o) If you do end up pushing it all the way to the bottom at least it gives you something solid to drill against. You just need to be careful not to damage the threads too much.
A final non-weld option might be to take a thin cutting disk (1mm) in a grinder and cut a shallow slot into the end of it (and the axle) so you can get a plain screwdriver into the slot and maybe get it to screw out (you could try a hacksaw but I don’t know if the axles are hardened). You also have a small slot in the end of the axle, but it is better than throwing it away.
Of course the bodge if none of these things work is to drive it into the bottom of the blind-hole and cut a bit off the crank bolt to make it short enough so it doesn’t bottom out on it (!) (AFAIK, it is really the taper that is supposed to hold the crank).
I like the idea of grinding a slot if the extractor does not work. The tap is less effective that an extractor, because the tap has a r/h thread and can not take advantage of the axle threads to back out the plug.
Knocking it through to the other side seems risky. Are Isis axles hollow all the way through? Plus, too much force required, too much banging, and more thread damage on top of what is already done. There is a learning curve to everything, is there not? Thanks again for the good advice and the good info, this is one mistake that I will not repeat.
I was thinking the same thing, I believe ISIS hubs are hollow. Just removing the bolt on the opposite side and driving out the stuck tool with a rod should work. Then it will depend on how damaged the threads are in the axle are. Damaged threads may be able to be chased and/or longer ISIS bolts are available from UDC.
I meant knocking it from the other side, out of the side it is currently stuck in, with a bit of steel as a drift (essentially what Eric and JimT are saying) – a 6" nail would probably do if you didn’t have anything else It assumes a through-hole, that will depend on how your hub is machined.
Anyway, good luck, these things are annoying, you spend far more time fixing the thing that got broken when you were trying to do the initial fix!
DrD, you are the man. I took a 1/4" ratchet extension, it was just a bit too short, so I first stuffed a 3" Phillips bit in the axle, then the ratchet extension, three gentle taps with a ball peen hammer, and Voila! the damned plug flew out! Much ado about nothing. Now I have to get the bearings off, and I absolutely refuse to buy another special tool. Maybe the local bike shop will do it for a few bucks.
I use a couple of US dimes as spacers to keep the tool head from pushing into the axle. They fit perfectly. They aren’t very strong, though. They end up a little bowl shaped, so the next time I put them in the other way around…
I use the park tool CP-22 on all my hubs. drop a dime in the crank bolt hole before screwing in the puller and keep the dished dime with the puller for future pulls so it doesn’t cost you a dime every time
Since you’ve got 1/4" drive sockets, you could try taking the end piece that came off off again and putting a suitable socket on the spigot instead (say maybe a 1/2" one). That assumes the spigot will go into the 1/4" drive and you can get the centre of the puller screwed back enough to accommodate the depth of the socket. That way the socket bridges the hole in the end of the crank and the puller pushes down on it. You should be able to yank that up as much as you want and it won’t deform into the hole. Sockets are useful things for pressing bearings, bushes etc.
It may well be easier just to use the coins as MrImpossible and WeaponizedBacon say though – but I’m Scottish and like to keep hold of my money
Both of the Park tools mentioned are designed to be used on bike cranks they are not ideal for unicycles. The CCP-22 is only suitable for cotterless cranks and although CCP-44 is an ISIS tool it does not work with all stud type hubs as it does not retract enough.
There are way better tools about that wont destroy the cranks and work with all unicycle cranks and hubs. You can also take cranks on and off without taking off the pedals.
I’ve made similar mistakes in the past, and ended up with a washer pressed through the threads and inside the hub. Same method, long screwdriver, a few good taps with a hammer, and it’s out.
Incredibly, the threads weren’t even damaged too badly, some time with a pick and a spare crank bolt that I turned into a makeshift thread chaser and it was fine. (You should check if your crankbolt still works, and if not carefully chase the threads, ideally with the proper tap).
I’ve made multiple different random universal bearing pullers work to get the bearings off, if the bike store doesn’t have a tool that works, automotive repair shops or machine shops likely will.
It assumes a through-hole, that will depend on how your hub is machined.
