cjben

Bought my daughter a 26 inch huffy cruiser from walmart. She rode it for less then an hour and the threads in the left crank for the pedal stripped completely out. I tried to order the part from huff,but they are out of stock. Can I fix this myself?

Aubergine 

Ok, the threads for the pedals are ok? It’s the crank that is buggered? Best thing to do is have the crank tapped out and a helicoil inserted.

cjben

Yes pedal threads are good. How expensive to do the tap and helicoil myself?

Aubergine 

You would need to buy the tap (about 25 bucks, I suspect) and then the appropriate helicoil plus an insertion tool. I do not know how much the helicoil costs.

Philphine

correct answer. i don't have the anti walmart snobbery some have, but if you just brought it, take it back. either exchange it for another (or another model if you think it would be better), or get the refund and try somewhere else.

Murray Missile 

^^^^^ All of the above. They should give you a new bike no questions asked.

I wouldn't call being "anti WalMart" snobbery when it comes to bikes. There's a good reason for a lot of it. I've worked on a LOT of them for people, the cheaper ones are of very poor quality. The components are marginal at best however some of their more "expensive" bikes are quite serviceable for recreational use.

bicyclridr4life

Agree. I'd return it for an exchange.

To those anti-Walmart bike folks:
My last Walmart Huffy beach cruiser was bought roughly 1991, and has been ridden over 10,000 miles, it has not required more than the normal consumables; a pair of tires and a couple chains, and repacking the bearings once a year or so. (I include servicing the coaster brake with "repacking the bearings".)
I also replaced the seat once.

If you take care of them, they will last longer than we will.

Jax Rhapsody

Yeah, there was a fluke to that bike part. Exchange that thing and inspect and/or ride it down the aisle. There's not too much on a coaster cruiser to eff up, as per walmart build quality, a cruiser is probably one of the best things to get from there. I wouldn't even go as far as repairing the crank, I'd just get another crank, plus with the 100s of other ones, it'll then be a bit easier to find if stolen.

Ashtabula cranks are extremely common, if you want to keep the bike; replace it.

Or Exchange it.

Both the cheapest and convenient alternatives than buying specialized tools to repair a part as common as flies on an $80 bike she may grow out of in size or interest.

wschruba

You can't successfully heli-coil the crank, anyway... There's not enough material around the eye to support the threads. Same reason you can't ream/tap them to the larger 9/16 size, even though it's physically possible to do so.

FWIW, one piece cranks are cheap now...a full setup of bearings, cups, cranks, and hardware would run roughly $25.

The correct move is still to return it, though. If you bought it assembled, it's their responsibility.

tds101 

Return it, get a better bike, move on.