grizzly907la

I am overhauling a mountain bike...a Gravity "Base camp," mountain bike. I managed to get the crank bolts out after soaking them overnight with JB Blaster (liquid wrench.) Either they dogged them down to tight, corrosion, or both made them hard to remove. Now I am running into another obstacle and that's pulling the cranks off. I've already managed the strip the outside threads on one and neither are budging. I don't think my crank puller tool is going to work. I might go get a gear puller and see if that can help me get the cranks off. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Iride01 

Did your crank have something you thought was just a dust cover on it with a hex hole in it just above the crank bolt? If so, put the bolt back in and the cover on and then stick your hex key for the bolt through the hole in the cover and unscrew the bolt. That will push the crank arm off. No pullers needed as they were built in to the design.

dsbrantjr

A Jacobs chuck removal wedge set (#3 size IIRC) is useful for removing stuck cranks. They are nice because the force is directed parallel to the spindle.
Reasonable heat, like heat gun or hairdryer, not torch, on the crank eyes is also helpful. I have also had success with getting a removal tool tight and then applying a hand sledge blow to the tool's screw, in line with the crank spindle, NOT sideways.
Edit: A machine shop may have the wedges.

sch

If you haven't taken the bike down too far, another option is to find a steep hill and ride it repeatedly
under high torque (as high a gear as your legs will allow). This, along with pretreatment with PBlaster
or similar may loosen the crank. I had personal experience when I rebuilt my bent 10yrs ago
and couldn't easily remove the DS crank. Rebuilt bike but forgot to put the fixing bolt in. Got about
20 miles (only a few hills) before the crank fell off. Using wedges will be difficult if the chainrings
are in the way. OTOH a gear puller might be able to grab a chain ring and pull off the crank.

andrewclaus

What's the part number on the crank puller you're using? You should be using CP-22 or equal, not CP-44. It looks like some deformation in the crank arms, like the puller "shoe" is too big, which is like pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.

cxwrench

Square taper cranks rarely if ever have this type of 'self puller'. I don't think I have ever seen one.

dsbrantjr

A drift punch can be used to gradually tap the wedges in, it does not take a huge amount of pounding. Might be easier than getting a gear puller to get good purchase on a chain ring.

grizzly907la

This is the number I got off of the tool. bike hand yc 215 cp.

grizzly907la

Everything the exception of the cranks has been pulled off. I'll try to use a gear puller. Its on their gorilla tight. They might of have over torque it at the factory, and/or was left outside and its corroded in there. I already have a new crankset ordered. If I can get them off with the above methods, I'm going to take it to a friend house and ask him to use a grinder to cut the cranks off. I already stripped the outer threads on the chain side, and don't want to have this problem down the road. I'm also prepared to get a replacement bottom bracket if the studs on it, gets damaged.

andrewclaus

A similar tool I can see has both sizes on it. If yours is two-sided, are you using the smaller side? Maybe a photo of the tool would help.

In any case, one side is stripped out and I've sometimes had luck with an automotive tie rod puller, a "pickle fork," It will likely dent the BB shell. Getting "purchase" with a gear puller can be difficult. Heat and impact is a favorite technique. I've never tried cycling with the bolt out, and I'd give that a try.

grizzly907la

I'll try taking a blow dryer to it, and here's a pic of the tool.

shoota 

Good luck. I think you're going to have to use Sawzall to cut them off like I had to do.

andrewclaus

Wrong tool, sorry to say. That's for splined BBs. You need Park CP-22 or equal.

grizzly907la

Its all good. Its just going to be a PITA to remove it.

SurferRosa

Good idea.

Sometimes, and it's super rare, crank arms just get stuck like this, and you don't find out until it's too late. Chalk it up to bad luck, don't worry about it, and move on.

For the arm that's not stripped, use one of these:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Park-Tool-C...MAAOSwpCFctkF-

grizzly907la

The crank is coming off, hell or high water. I ordered a new crank, and it will get here in about a week or two. I knew I was going to have some issues with the bike when I got it. It looks like it was left outside. Hence the reason why I am overhauling it. Pets and bikes should never be left outside. I learned a valuable lesson and next time. I'll make sure that I use the proper tool.

sweeks

This won't work if the threads inside the crank are stripped.

brian3069

Use a pickle fork, most chain auto part stores will loan one for free.

Jump to the 3:00 minute mark.

Pop N Wood

My experiences are the same as Andrew's. Never had luck with a gear puller, have sucessfully used a pickle fork which did dent the BB shell, but heat and IMPACT, heavy emphasis on the vibration from impact, works.

I recently bought a set of Jacobs wedges after seeing dsbrantjr suggest them but haven't had the chance to use them.

Recently tried to remove a crank with self extracting bolts. Of course destroyed the self extracting part in short order. Will probably need the Jacobs wedges the day that needs to come off.

Trevtassie

For the OP, that Bike Hand puller comes from the factory set up for Octalink BBs, so the head was too big to push on the actual BB, it was pushing on the crank, like Andrewclaus was saying. You need to pull the mushroom shaped head off it to use with square taper. If you can't pull it off by hand, screw/retract the head inside the body until the head pops off.
Self extracting crank bolts are OK, but you need to buy quality ones, like FSA. Cheap ones aren't strong enough, they can split, leaving a piece stuck in the crank or strip out and damage the crank threads.

Moe Zhoost

Using 2 pickle forks 180 deg. apart will wedge the crank off parallel to the shell and should not damage the shell. If you are worried about it, you can use a sacrificial shim against the shell. BMFY is absolutely right - you need to hammer with serious verve and elan!

Good luck.

dedhed

We buy hardwood wedges by the pallet for adjusting sewer frames and blocking pipe. They work pretty well too.

Crankycrank

Listen to andrewclaus. I agree this is probably why it won't work.

Homebrew01

The round disk on the tool looks too big to contact just the spindle. As if it may be touching the crank, not the spindle.

grizzly907la

I boned headed the chainring side pretty badly with that tool. I'm a little annoyed at myself but am chalking it to a lesson learned.