Does anyone know how I can remove my square taper cranks without a puller? I have some creaking going on down there and I guess I should investigate before things get worse.
Yeah, but it's $25 shipping to Canada. Not so cheap with the exchange rate. Next time I make a big order from pricepoint or jenson I'll get one. Just looking for a way around it in the meantime. May have to go to the bike shop.
Your local bike shop should be able to sell you one for $10-$15. Be sure to pick one that does, in fact, work on square-taper cranks (as opposed to Octalink/ISIS).
one thing you can try to is to find a bolt that will thread into the crank where the puller would go, but this only works if you already have a pile of fairly sizable bolts laying around.
I unintentionally loosened a square taper crank when I overlooked a loose crank arm bolt. On my next ride uphill, I quickly felt the the crank start to flop back and forth. I tightened the bolt and no damage was done.
So if you're trying to take the crank off, you can just remove the bolt and then hammer up and down your street 'till it falls off. Some people consider this a destructive removal technique, but I didn't notice any damage and everything is still quiet and working fine.
Yeah, but it's $25 shipping to Canada. Not so cheap with the exchange rate. Next time I make a big order from pricepoint or jenson I'll get one. Just looking for a way around it in the meantime. May have to go to the bike shop.
I would recommend just getting the puller, it's cheap and makes the job take only seconds. If you try to loosen it by riding with no bolt then you risk damaging the interface, or the crank falling off and damaging yourself.
one thing you can try to is to find a bolt that will thread into the crank where the puller would go, but this only works if you already have a pile of fairly sizable bolts laying around.
If your's came with multiple 'feet' (part that presses on the spindle), make sure you have the right size screwed in. If your 'foot' is too big, It'll just press against the crank and possibly cause the puller to press out and strip the crank's threads - It's easy to over look.
You made the right call on getting the puller ...good luck! :thumbsup:
I took the cranks off today. The bolts were quite loose. I had greased the tapers when I intalleded the cranks, not realizing that most consider this a no no. I cleaned off the grease from the cranks and tapers, and put them back on dry with plenty of torque. This time I put blue loctite on the bolts as well. The problem appears to be solved, with no damage to the cranks.
I took the cranks off today. The bolts were quite loose. I had greased the tapers when I intalleded the cranks, not realizing that most consider this a no no. I cleaned off the grease from the cranks and tapers, and put them back on dry with plenty of torque. This time I put blue loctite on the bolts as well. The problem appears to be solved, with no damage to the cranks.
You trying to start WWIII around here Grover? The "grease or no grease tapers" has raged on & off for the ten+ years that I've been here. I thought we were over that one now that (for most people) tapered spindles are gathering dust. If your mind is made up about how to fit them then fine. I won't bother telling you what's worked for me for 5 decades.
Sorry. My mind isn't made up at all. Just new to the whole thing. The grease no doubt had nothing to do with the problem. Just thought I'd try both ways.
I am undoubtedly opening a can of spring-loaded fake snakes here but...
I grease my Squares... no prob after 15+ years...
Grease allows the fitting not to 'pre-bind' - causing a false 'tight'...The thing is not to Over-Torque!
The same idea applies with many metal to metal fittings.(screws, bolts, pressure-fits, etc)
Over and over re-installations will eventually stretch out a ST crank, but allowing it (the crank) to get to it's 'home' a few times is a good thing... (I think Martha Stewart talks a bout this in a book)
The thing with 'pressure-fits' like Square-Tapers is there are no hard and fast rules IMO. - "Snug it up - it, then give it one more crank" is my rule - loosely
If it breaks loose...ya did something wrong.
*EDIT - 5 decades Mike? - Are you cryogenically frozen up there
I'm a rebel, just bought a new UN-54 tapered bb for my single speed. Don't need no new fangled cranks here - yet.
I grease the drive side, and leave the other side dry. Or is it the other way around? I forget.
Pffftttt I had you beat on this subject years ago with the fence-sitting politician's fix -
On one side of the bike -
Grease one taper.
Leave the next one dry.
The third one, use loc-tite.
The fourth one - use bacon grease.
Reverse the order on the other side of the bike.
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