Viewing 21 posts - 1 through 21 (of 21 total)
  • Stuck square taper BB – best side to start on?
  • leffeboy
    Full Member

    So, I’ve got a square taper BB that is thoroughly locked in place and requiring a bench vice and lots of oomph to get it out. It there a best side to apply this oomph, ie. do you work on the locking sleeve (non-drive) side or the fixed (drive) side

    All wisdom appreciated

    avdave2
    Full Member

    A good application of penetrating oil first might help, it has for me.

    Junkyard
    Free Member

    Depends on some the Non drive is plastic so i would probably start on that with a drill or perhaps burning the plastic if I was really angry 😕

    I think i would start that side first anyway as do we not screw in drive first then tighten the non drive in installation

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    bencooper
    Free Member

    Yup, usually best to start with non-drive-side…

    leffeboy
    Full Member

    ok, non-drive side it is. I might soak the threads in some more WD40 tonight.

    Any idea if it’s possible to get it going with a chisel and big hammer with the frame sitting on the ground if the proper tool doesn’t work? Just looking for ideas. It wouldn’t be a great loss if the frame goes in the end as I’ve had it a very long time now (it uses cantilevers and Suntour thumbies) but it’s my pub bike and there is a small emotional attachment

    andyl
    Free Member

    are you using a QR skewer or bolt to hold the BB tool in tight when you attack it?

    leffeboy
    Full Member

    was using bolt but the skewer is a good idea. I borrowed an even bigger tool as the last one kept slipping out of the vice but it is too big for the bolt so the skewer could be a winner

    runs off to try

    bencooper
    Free Member

    If you get really, really stuck then a hole saw is the way to do it…

    gee
    Free Member

    In the past I have used 8″ leverage poles on stuck square taper BBs, no joke. They had been fitted for years, not my bike… Using something to hold the tool in is essential.

    jordie
    Free Member

    A little heat helps get things moving

    captain-slow
    Free Member

    may be stupid question, but have you tried a huge lever on the bb tool? I used a two and a half foot lever to get mine moving…

    leffeboy
    Full Member

    lever? I’ve got the tool in a bench vice and i’m using the frame as the lever 🙂

    Success – sort of. With the skewer to hold the tool in place I can now use the larger tool. Unfortunately even though the lock ring is alloy it appears to be an alloy of emmental and gruyere so it stripped 🙁

    The surprising news was that the drive side came out using the same technique, leaving the BB stuck in the other half. Nothing a large hammer couldn’t fix.

    So I’ve got a stripped locking sleeve stuck in the BB but I’ll soak it in WD40 overnight and try and cut it out gently tomorrow. I’m a happy man

    bencooper
    Free Member

    If you’ve just got the LH collar left, you can just use a hacksaw blade to slot it and get it out that way.

    leffeboy
    Full Member

    If you get really, really stuck then a hole saw is the way to do it…

    Out of interest – how would you get it out using a hole saw? It sounds like there would be a lot of work involved

    leffeboy
    Full Member

    you can just use a hacksaw blade to slot it and get it out that way

    Great – that’s just what I was going to try next. I smell victory

    abductee
    Free Member

    kettle full of boiling water on the frame

    leffeboy
    Full Member

    kettle full of boiling water on the frame

    Interesting idea. I’ve always tried using a hot air gun before but it’s never really worked. Hot water would be able to dump heat in faster so could be a winner. Don’t need it now but stored in memory – tx

    (I’ve also tried with hot air on the outside and freezer spray on the inside. Invariably a waste of freezer spray)

    bencooper
    Free Member

    Out of interest – how would you get it out using a hole saw? It sounds like there would be a lot of work involved

    33mm hole saw, drill bit in the middle goes down the axle as a guide – the saw cuts out the BB cups neatly, leaving the threads behind. I love doing it that way – I quite often get people bringing me bikes with stuck BBs, often after other shops have had a go and given up, and I get it out in 15 minutes 😉

    leffeboy
    Full Member

    I wondered if that was possible but mistakenly assumed that there wasn’t space for a saw. Turns out there is lots of space (as long as you have a really deep hole saw). Brilliant idea 🙂

    bencooper
    Free Member

    I probably shouldn’t keep telling people how to to it as it’s been a good money spinner, but meh 🙂

    leffeboy
    Full Member

    I promise not to tell and there is another thread going about girlfriends so no-one else will see this

Viewing 21 posts - 1 through 21 (of 21 total)

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