mtb_addict

i got this tool from Taobao. I used it on the left crank of my cheap 20 year old single-speed cruiser; and it worked great.

But then I went to work on the right crank. But the right crank is super dupper tight. I ended up stripping the inside thread of the black part of this tool.

I cannot get Park Tool around here. But the LBS has a $10 tool that looks similar to my ruined one.

Is it normal to bust up these tools?

or is the old crank really so siezed up that it may be unremovable?

100bikes

No disrespect, but if you purchased a low end tool (Chinese mfg), you cannot expect it to perform like the more expensive ones.

The quality of the steel, hardening and precision of the thread cuts are all parts of the package - each adds costs in the final price
and then add shipping.

There are no secrets, it is the nature of business.

There are so many knock off tools out there, designed to look good, marketed as "professional quality" but are not really robust enough
for "shop" use.

Most mechanics can confirm this through after looking through their tools.

An investment in quality tools will pay off in the long run.

rusty

andrewclaus

I've never seen an crank tool strip before the crank does.

It's not unusual for the internal threads on the crank to pull out.

DorkDisk

+1 to all above. Cranks are most usually aluminum, which is softer than tool steel by a large margin. Crank threads go before the tool threads do; I'm still rocking my personal CCP-1 from the early 90's.

dsbrantjr

This is much less likely if a properly-fitting tool has fully engaged the crank threads. Damaging an expensive component with a cheap, ill-fitting tool is false economy.

mtb_addict

The crank is steel.

Btw, the crank tool and the BB ring wrench cost only $2 at Taobao.

The BB ring wrench worked okay, though. but it is soft. it wont last forever, but okay for gentle home use.

WizardOfBoz

You've got a steel crank on a tapered spindle? Isn't that unusual? At least my experience, which may be limited, doesn't cover this. Because a crank is such a large part, it's one of the first targets for switching to aluminum alloy. I'd have to expect a bike with a tapered spindle steel crank to be in the "Cheapest Imaginable" category of Bike Shaped Objects. Did you test the crank with a magnet? One thought is that if the crank and spindle are the same metal, you may have galling. In this case, the two parts are essentially cold-welded together: you'll never get them apart. At least in a way that allows you to salvage one or the other (spindle or crank arm).

Here's another part of your solution: buy NOTHING at Taobao that has to do with bikes or tools.

Good heavens, you probably got tools made from an alloy containing a significant percentage surplus Chinese bean curds and rice hulls.

At this point, I'd ask your LBS to ruin their tool removing the thing. Or get a proper tool, like Park's.

DorkDisk

Steel tapered crank arms are pretty low end; adding a low end tool to the mix is a recipe for disaster. Steel spindle+steel arms+soft steel tool=not fun

jadocs

You sure there is not lock ring or something on the drive side?

mtb_addict

there is alot of rust on the crank...hence, i am 99% sure it is steel.

WizardOfBoz

Ok, that's fine, but you still want to fix the thing up so that it rides ok. I'd take to to an LBS if you can. They might have the proper tool. Or get a proper tool yourself. If Park is not available, can you get a Shimano? TL-FC10.

Other options:
Use penetrating oil. If you can't get that, try a 50/50 mix of acetone and automatic transmission fluid. Careful - acetone will remove paint. Repeat application of fluid over time (5-10 applications in 24 hours, for example) or soak overnight if you can.
Heat the crank with a torch. Not to red hot, but enough to loosen it. This is one common way machinists break stuck joints.
Remove the spindle from the bottom bracket, with the crank attached. Then you can use heat, or penetrating oil with more abandon, or you could just drill out the spindle and replace it, or you could use a drift (preferably brass) to pound the spindle out. A piece of pipe in a vise, big enough to insert the spindle into, and small enough so that the crank rests on the pipe. Then using the drift (which is a brass or bronze rod about 1/2" or 12mm in diameter) pound on the spindle.

Miele Man

A friend of mine had the same problem with an alloy crank and quality tool. He stripped the thread on the crank. I got the crank off for him. How?

I put 2 headset wrenches between the crank and the bottom bracket shell. Then I tapped a chisel between the headset wrenches on each side of the spindle with the bottom bracket supported by a concrete block. A few judicious tapping on the chisels and the crank popped right off. No damage to anything either.

Cheers

Wilfred Laurier

I have seen the threads ripped out of many a crank arm, but never ripped out of a crank arm remover. That tool must be made of a previously unidentified alloy of unripe cheese.

Before you try again to remove the crank, make sure that there is no washer or something left in the crank after the bolt is removed...


... just occurred to me that less expensive bikes often have a nutted BB spindle, which means the 'bolt' portion of the spindle is probably inside the remover tool, meaning fewer engaged threads than if the tool was pushing on a bo9lted BB spindle.

Also make sure you don't have the larger diameter adaptor on the tool that lets it work with oversized BB spindles like ISIS and Hollowtech I - if you leve this adaptor on when removing a square tapered crank the tool will be pushing against the top of the square hole in the crank while pulling on the threads of the crank. This is only an issue if you have a bolted and not nutted BB spindle.

cyccommute 

A pickle fork is easier to use and relatively cheap

pdlamb

Amazon doesn't deliver Park Tools to where you live??

Have you considered offering the bike shop $5 to pull the crank for you?

Miele Man

Maybe so but I already had the tools I used and I wasn't going to buy a one use tool for someone else's bike. With the tools I had it took about two minutes to remove the crank including getting the tools into position to do it.

Cheers

dsbrantjr

So are Jacobs chuck wedges. Another thing to try is to get the extractor properly installed and as tight as you dare, then hit the drive end of the tool squarely with a hand sledge; the vibration plus the impact against the spindle by the tool will often pop the taper loose.
Edit: Plus hitting things with hammers can be an anger outlet.

cyccommute 

Frankly, I’d be more concerned about damaging the other tools you have on hand. Cone wrenches are easily damaged and it would depend on the type of chisel you were using. Someone might interpret you post as using a wood chisel. That’s what I thought of first when I read your post.

Miele Man

Headset wrenches not cone wrenches. Old wood chisels not expensive quality ones. Even though it stripped the threads on the crank trying to remove it with a quality crank extractor the headset/chisel method didn't require that much force.

Cheers

dedhed

I believe the OP is somewhere in SE Asia or similar foreign area without your standard services we've been accustom to.

dedhed

Unless you try a pickle fork, Jacobs chuck wedges or similar, when you get a different tool, soak the crap ouit of it with whatever penetrant you can get, heat up the crank arm, put some tension on the tool, and then give the crank arm some good raps with a hammer.
With the tension pulling on it the percussion of the hammer blows will often pop things loose.

mtb_addict

i dont know how to use Amazon here. I hear you have to hire a 3rd party shipper in Oregon to recieve your Amazon package and re-send it to you...so its expensive. My roomate only know how to use Taobao. Its wierd here. We have to go to a store to pickup Taobao packages.

i just found Parktools on Taobao. The cwp-7 is about $11 USD.

The LBS has a “made in Taiwan” crank puller for about $10 USD.

I might give the Taiwan puller a try, because I want it asap.

3alarmer 

....
....In my personal experience over the past five or ten years, the majority of the Taiwanese made tools I've bought and/or used appear to be of good quality. I would not hesitate to buy one.

There's a trick you might not know to using a crank puller. Try it and see if it helps. You drip in a little bit of penetrating oil on both sides of the spindle/taper interface surface (once the fixing bolt or nut is removed). Then you just put some initial tension on the crank by tightening the crank puller. Tap it on the outside end of the pulling bolt with a hammer (preferably a soft hammer, like brass, but any hammer will work). Drip in a little more penetrant between the spindle and the crank in the inside interface. Tighten it some more, Tap it a few more times firmly.

Usually, the crank then comes off. Mostly....except when it doesn't.

Miele Man

Another thing you might try is to use a mallet to tap around the crank where it sits on the spindle. that might break loose whatever is holding it in place.

You did remove the nut from inside the crankarm? I knew a fellow who couldn't get a crank off his bike and it turned out he'd forgotten to remove the retaining nut. He thought he had.

Cheers

mtb_addict

Omg.
I just bought the Taiwan tool for $8. The difference is Nite and day. I used it, and The crank came loose with very little effort. I also did the hammer tap technique that someone suggested.

That $2 tool felt like it was binding, (manufactured crookedly maybe).

Now, I got the crank off. And the rhs cup is wierd.

rhs...



lhs....