I’ve got a pedal that well and truly won’t come unstuck from a carbon crank. I’ve tried with an allen key from the back and it slightly rounded out the bolt hole, then I tried with a 15mm pedal wrench from the other side and it has slightly rounded the flats! I’ve also tried with penetrating oil although it has only been on there a few hours so there’s still time for that to come good.
I could try heating or freezing the crank arm and pedal together but I’m a bit reluctant to do this as the crank is carbon so I’m not sure how that would go.
I’m also wondering about buying one of those easy-out kits to drill the pedal axle out from the back - I’d like to keep the pedals but a new axle kit is only £10 so I wouldn’t mind wrecking one if I have to.
Any other ideas would be hugely appreciated! The crank is Sram X01 and the pedals are Nukeproof Horizon in case it makes a difference.
Are you quadruply sure you're turning it the right way?
Are you quadruply sure you’re turning it the right way?
Always worth asking! Yes I am though unfortunately, it’s the non drive side crank and I’m loosening it clockwise as you look from the pedal side.
That reminds me I also tried giving it a little extra tighten in case it got the thread moving so I could then loosen it.
+1 for turning it the right way 🙂
I had a pedal on my commuter bike get well and truly stuck. In the end I took two strips of metal and clamped the pedal flats in the vice on the flats, using the strips. I then gave the crank a very hefty turn. Took a lot of effort but eventually came out. As it is non drive side you could put a tube over the arm, with some softer packing, and give it a lot of welly
Easyout is for snapped off studs, if it's too tight to move with tension still on the thread, it won't help.
If you don't mind sacrificing the axle, dismantle the pedal body, clamp the axle hard in a vice, (might need to file some flats on it for better purchase) and use the crank arm as the lever to get it off. Risk is though you'll detatch the threaded insert from the crank arm if you have to use too much brute force.
edit - ha, pretty much the same advice while I was reading/replying!
This happened to me once and it was corroded in. I ended up cutting the pedal off close to the crank - drilling through the remaining stub with the biggest bit I could find then threaded a hacksaw blade through the hole to cut slots into the stub. Be careful to stop when the crank threads are visible and kind of twist each section out! Run a pedal tap through to clean up the threads and it's been good as new!
Good luck!
I'd echo what others have said. Take the pedal body off and clamp the pedal axle in a vice hard and then turn the crank off the pedal.
Worst case scenario is that you've ruined the crank and pedal, but if it's really stuck in there you have nothing to lose!
You don't actually need to take the pedal apart if it has spanner flats. You can clamp onto the flats with a couple of bits of steel that fit onto the flats. If it goes well neither part is damaged.
And try tightening it first - alternating tightening and loosening can break the thread free
I'd be tempted to use an impact driver.
I’d drill it out as close as possible to the thread.
Fold the remaining bits in.
Thanks for all the helpful suggestions, some good ideas to try.
The whole reason for removing is to try out different length cranks so I’m going to order some new axles, then remove the pedal body from the axle and and the cranks from the bike. I’ll rebuild the pedal with the new axle and install it with the other crank then see what I can do with the crank arm and axle separate from everything else.
I’ll try clamping it in a vice and if that doesn’t work then maybe it’ll be drill time.
I did it! It took quite a few efforts, I wasn’t able to turn it off with the help of a vice alone.
In the end I carefully drilled out the axle from the back with a 10mm bit (I also started with a 12mm but got worried I was damaging the thread in the crank arm so stopped). Then I squeezed the exposed axle (now with a hole down the middle) tightly in a vice, my theory was that it would compress a little and break the bound thread which I guess it must have because I was finally able to unwind it.
Nice to see a positive result 🙂
That's a good bit of drilling. Well done.
It's very satisfying when you get a good result! Nice one 🙂
Great work!