square crank removal question

RebelButtMunch

Hi,

I've got shimano 170 cranks on my mountain bike. Lately the spindle has developed a horrobleg grinding noise.

So to have a look I've removed the nuts and I can see the square shaft.

Do I have to have a shaft removal tool or is it possible to remove the crank another way?

Thanks!

Morgan

The "other way" involves a hammer and a lot of blunt force. This can have detrimental effects on your cranks.

Best bet is to get an appropriate crank-puller tool.

doozerie

You'll need a tool such as this one to pull the cranks off the spindle. There are variations on this tool available too, but that version I've always found to be the most convenient to use.

Presumably you've already removed the bolts holding the cranks to the spindle? If not, you'll need either a socket wrench to remove those, or you could just use this variation on the above tool which has one end to remove the bolts and the other end to remove the cranks themselves.

Also, when re-fitting the cranks grease the square spindle and the bolt washer which bears against the crank and while you want it to be tight you don't want to over-tighten it as you can damage the cranks. A torque wrench would help, but common sense works too if you don't have a torque wrench.

Edit: Sorry, the new version of that second tool above no longer incorporate a socket to remove the crank arm bolt, so you'll still need a socket set or one of these. Or you can probably find a combined socket+crank puller tool in another brand.

RebelButtMunch

Thanks for the answers!

Its a battered old mountain bike but it does the job for commuting into town and I wouldn't shed too many tears if it got nicked. It's still worth fixing though!

happytramp

So hopefully you should get the cranks off now. Perhaps with a re-grease of the spindle and a tightening of the cranks the noise will go away. However if not, it's likely you've got a problem with the bottom bracket (the part of the spindle that is inside the bike) which is a bit of a bigger problem.

Paul Kiernan

I would guess it's probably the BB that's the problem:(. If so, Chainreaction have plenty starting for about a fiver. Some info in this thread http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056128922

The tools are the problem, Halfords have a bike set for €38.99 which should do the job for just about anything bike related.

happytramp

If I could go back in time, I'd 100% buy that Halford's tool set. When I think of the money I've spent buying tools piecemeal :mad: