Well, I just got a pair of replacement cranks (cotterless) in the mail for my Pashley Power MUni. I’m going to take it to a bike shop to get them put on for me. Since my problem before was that the cranks were coming loose, I’m going to use Loc-Tite this time to try and keep them tight…
So how should I instruct the bike shop to use the Loc-Tite? Does it go directly on the threads on the axle that you tighten the hex-nut onto? Or does it go on the tapered flat area where the square crank hole fits onto the square axle? Should I give the bike shop any other special instructions, or will they know what to do?
Anybody have any good/bad experiences with using Loc-Tite?
When youy say cotterless, I assume that you are referring to the older
style with the tapered square bottom bracket. You have to be careful
because often when you put new cranks on, they typically will loosen
within a moderate amount of riding. If you have lock-tited the bolts to
keep them from loosening, they’ll also be equally resistant to tightening.
My advise - Put your new cranks on. Tighten the bolts (sometimes the
thread is on the crank axel so nuts are used instead.) Do not go crazy
here. The bolts will break if you get too aggessive. If you want to make
damn sure they’re on good, put one crank hub (not the pedal end) up
against a tree, wooden telephone pole or other very significant piece of
wood; Place a piece of two by four or similiar piece of wood oposite the
tree - again on the crank hub (not the pedal end); Give the two by four
a good solid wack or two with a mallet - I use a buckshot filled
deadblow. Go back and tighten the bolts again. You’ll be amazed at how
much more thread you’ll get out of the bolts. Put your lock-tite away -
don’t use it yet.
Ride
Ride some more.
Go back and check the bolts. I bet you’ll find that they are still tight.
Sell the loc-tite at your next garage sale.
Old Schwinn shop trick. A guy named Jerry Forester taught me that trick
many moons ago in Alaska. If anyone knows where he is, let him know I gave
his secret away.
Zahnpasteus wrote:
> Well, I just got a pair of replacement cranks (cotterless) in the mail > for my Pashley Power MUni. I’m going to take it to a bike shop to get > them put on for me. Since my problem before was that the cranks were > coming loose, I’m going to use Loc-Tite this time to try and keep them > tight… > > So how should I instruct the bike shop to use the Loc-Tite? Does it go > directly on the threads on the axle that you tighten the hex-nut onto? > Or does it go on the tapered flat area where the square crank hole fits > onto the square axle? Should I give the bike shop any other special > instructions, or will they know what to do? > > Anybody have any good/bad experiences with using Loc-Tite? > > Thanks, -Josh > > – > Posted via the Unicyclist Community - http://unicyclist.com/forums
Okay, so I decided not to use the Loc-tite and I took my uni to the bike shop this morning. They put the cranks on and i got home to start riding… ten minutes later me left crank fell off again!
So I decided to try the method mention above (I put the crank back on, set it against a tree, pounded with hammer and 2 x 4). Okay, so the crank was back on and it seemed tight enough. So I rode some more… Every 5 or 10 minutes I stopped to check the nut. Every time I stopped I had to tighten it about a half turn or so, so it seems that for some reason the nut is not staying tight. I mean, I understand that I should tighten the cranks every so often, but every 10 minutes is ridiculous. Why is this happening?
It seems to be only my left crank that I’ve had a problem with (twice), although I have totally new cranks, so the cranks aren’t the problem. Is the left side more prone to unscrewing because of the forward pedaling motion and the way that it’s threaded?
Be sure to use a soft paper towel and wipe off any grease around the nut
and inside the bolt. If there’s any grease the nut will fly off faster
than you can say Jack Robinson. Is the nut/bolt stripped at all? Maybe
it’s time for a new one.
I read something here a while back about left threads and right threads or
something. They said be sure to get a left thread on your left and right
on your right. Otherwise, if you have two lefts or two rights, when you
pedal, one pedal will always be coming loose.
I am not an engineer so that made no sense to me. Maybe it was just
for pedals.
I saw some of this Plumber’s tape at a hardware store. It was white, about
.75 CM thick and you just wrapped it around your tap and screwed the head
on. It kept the head nice and tight and prevented leaks. Maybe this would
give you the snugness you need.
Good luck Graham W.
“Zahnpasteus” <forum.member@unicyclist.com> wrote in message news:9j9atd$pni$1@laurel.tc.umn.edu… > Well, I just got a pair of replacement cranks (cotterless) in the mail > for my Pashley Power MUni. I’m going to take it to a bike shop to get > them put on for me. Since my problem before was that the cranks were > coming loose, I’m going to use Loc-Tite this time to try and keep them > tight… > > So how should I instruct the bike shop to use the Loc-Tite? Does it go > directly on the threads on the axle that you tighten the hex-nut onto? > Or does it go on the tapered flat area where the square crank hole fits > onto the square axle? Should I give the bike shop any other special > instructions, or will they know what to do? > > Anybody have any good/bad experiences with using Loc-Tite? > > Thanks, -Josh > > > > > – > Posted via the Unicyclist Community - http://unicyclist.com/forums
>I saw some of this Plumber’s tape at a hardware store. It was white, >about .75 CM thick and you just wrapped it around your tap and screwed >the head on. It kept the head nice and tight and prevented leaks. Maybe >this would give you the snugness you need.
If I understand correctly this is Teflon tape; it’s a lot thinner than .75
cm though. This is unsuitable to make a snug fit for cranks. The stuff
actually “flows” when under mechanical pressure (as occurs on a
screwthread so it fills any cavities and prevents leaks), therefore the
crank would come loose just as quickly.
Klaas Bil
“To trigger/fool/saturate/overload Echelon, the following has been picked
automagically from a database:” “Lybia, NSA, Mohammar Khadafi”
Loose cranks are a real pain… especially if the are falling off after 5
minutes. It sounds like the nut isn’t tight enough. A rubber mallet is
best I’ve found but wood and hammer does the job. You really need to
hammer, tighten, hammer again, tighten again until you can’t tighten any
more. Be careful not to strip the tightening bolts thread though! Unless
you’re using a large wrench you should be okay though. It’s also a good
idea to clean off any dirt from the hub tapper the crank goes on to.
> Okay, so I decided not to use the Loc-tite and I took my uni to the bike > shop this morning. They put the cranks on and i got home to start > riding… ten minutes later me left crank fell off again! > > So I decided to try the method mention above (I put the crank back on, > set it against a tree, pounded with hammer and 2 x 4). Okay, so the > crank was back on and it seemed tight enough. So I rode some more… > Every 5 or 10 minutes I stopped to check the nut. Every time I stopped I > had to tighten it about a half turn or so, so it seems that for some > reason the nut is not staying tight. I mean, I understand that I should > tighten the cranks every so often, but every 10 minutes is ridiculous. > Why is this happening? > > It seems to be only my left crank that I’ve had a problem with (twice), > although I have totally new cranks, so the cranks aren’t the problem. Is > the left side more prone to unscrewing because of the forward pedaling > motion and the way that it’s threaded? > > Maybe I should use the Loc-Tite after all… ??? ! > > -Josh > > > > > – > Posted via the Unicyclist Community - http://unicyclist.com/forums
