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Removed my cranks recently to replace chain rings, and since putting back together they sound like a bag of spanners! Remember those paint aerosols with a ball in? They sound like that, clicking and clacking on each turn. I tried removing them and replacing but they got worse. I've got a big enduro ride in a couple of weeks and my main concern is that something terminal is wrong and they give up half way into it.
Tensioned them up properly, the only problem I had was that I stripped out both of the heads in the bolts holding on the non-drive side crank when I tightened them. Any ideas?
Grease on the splines and axle, and new bolts correctly torqued up should hopefully sort it.If you can't get the old ones out, an easy-out tool should do it,remove one and replace with new before trying to remove the second one, otherwise it'll have greater tension on it.
given that you stripped the crank arm bolts, is it possible you over tensioned the bearings with the little plastic star thing? They only need to be lightly nipped up
I did exactly the same thing with stripping the heads. 3 months of creaky b@st@rd cranks despite stripping, cleanin, greasing etc and I spent £20 on a new set. Cured the problem instantly. I can send you the creaky, grating ones if you want to compare noises.
Thanks all. Pretty sure I got the tension on the platsic thing right, it was ham-fistedness with a torque wrench not being in straight that got the bolts.
Looks like I need to replace them - any ideas where to get replacements / what size to ask for etc please?
Thanks for your help - appreciated!
I tried that. Replaed the bolts with some nice long ones and it was creaking/grating again before I reached the end of the drive. It almost sounded like one of the ballbearings has collapsed and the bits were being froced around inside the bearings.
WCA - did you replace just the bearings or the crank arms as well (I'm guessing just bearings at that price)?
I wasn't suspecting bearings as it's only since I removed cranks that the noise has started. No sign of play either.
Just the bearings. There was no sign of play at all. Removing the cranks and spinning the bearings seemed fine too.
I was a bit worried that it wouldn't fix the problem as I had managed to 'lose' the non-drive side crank previously in a poor maintenance/crash event but the bike is now silent.
Just the bearings is a LOT cheaper than the whole crankset. If you end up replacing the whole lot you can keep the extra bearings as spares or try and sell them on. £20 or £150 - your call
Cheers