Bottom Bracket removal non drive side stuck HELP

petemadoc
petemadoc Posts: 2,331
edited May 2011 in Workshop
This is driving me mad, I'm trying to remove an FSA external bottom bracket Drie side acme off fine but the non drive side is well and truly stuck. I've tried the biggest wrench I can find but the metal is flexing under the force I'm using. Yes I am turning it the right way.

Comments

  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    Pair of 24inch Stilsons - they'll completely mangle it because they grip tighter the more heave you apply. Your LBS probably has a set of 'heavy tools' kept aside for this purpose.
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,673
    plus gas then.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • petemadoc
    petemadoc Posts: 2,331
    Monty Dog wrote:
    Pair of 24inch Stilsons - they'll completely mangle it because they grip tighter the more heave you apply. Your LBS probably has a set of 'heavy tools' kept aside for this purpose.

    LBS . . 30 miles away

    What's plus gas?
  • desweller
    desweller Posts: 5,175
    PeteMadoc wrote:
    Monty Dog wrote:
    Pair of 24inch Stilsons - they'll completely mangle it because they grip tighter the more heave you apply. Your LBS probably has a set of 'heavy tools' kept aside for this purpose.

    LBS . . 30 miles away

    What's plus gas?

    Plusgas!

    Regular doses of the above, mount the frame in a bench and whale on it.
    - - - - - - - - - -
    On Strava.{/url}
  • maddog 2
    maddog 2 Posts: 8,114
    [anti-clockwise]
    Facts are meaningless, you can use facts to prove anything that's remotely true! - Homer
  • surreyxc
    surreyxc Posts: 293
    this may sound obvious but the non drive of cranks are usually a reserve thread, not always but usually. make sure you know for sure.
  • surreyxc
    surreyxc Posts: 293
    reverse
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    Gallons of Plusgas or similar, marinate for 24 hours, then pour a kettle of boiling water over the bearing cup.

    Then you need to employ some violence. As reccommended, clamp the frame in a bench vice to stop it going anywhere. Giant pair of Stillsons a good idea; they do indeed bite harder the more you heave on them. Failing that, the appropriate BB tool and a dirty great long breaker bar (Nicklouse has posted some excellent pics of a whopper in use on neglected MTBs)
  • maddog 2
    maddog 2 Posts: 8,114
    driveside is clockwise to undo

    nondriveside is anti-clockwise to undo

    (not sure if this is what you meant surrey)
    Facts are meaningless, you can use facts to prove anything that's remotely true! - Homer
  • petemadoc
    petemadoc Posts: 2,331
    The drive side is a reverse thread but the side that's stuck is a normal thread. Don't worry, I checked it like a million times!

    I don't have any Plus Gas so I've sprayed a load of WD40 over it, will try again tonight and if no luck then it's a 30 mile trip to the not so local bike shop.
  • petemadoc
    petemadoc Posts: 2,331
    Oh and yeah, Violence has already been used! :twisted:

    Trying to make the wrench longer is tricky without adding extra flex
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    I have on occasion zip tied a length of steel bar to a wrench to gain extra leverage. Looks unlikely to work but is surprisingly effective.

    Can be helpful to have an assistant at the business end of the tool to make sure it doesn't slip off while you heave on your improvised handle. So to speak.
  • maddog 2
    maddog 2 Posts: 8,114
    bike upside down, old seatpost on the BB spanner and then stand on it. Really.
    Facts are meaningless, you can use facts to prove anything that's remotely true! - Homer
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    So you're stamping on an old seatpost that's loosely attached to a spanner and 3 feet off the ground?
    I'm thinking shinpads and cricket box would be the bare minimum of protective clothing required for this technique :shock:
  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,673
    PeteMadoc wrote:

    I don't have any Plus Gas so I've sprayed a load of WD40 over it,

    what is a water disperser going to do?

    WD40 is a poor release agent.

    Plus Gas is a release agent.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    Defo a 2-person job - 1 to make sure the tool stays in place and the other to apply the 'force' (physical & jedi) - I've been involved in exercises involving a high degree of ingenuity and a 4ft scaffold pole to remove a seized BB. Good mechanics seriously love this stuff (tests their brains to a higher degree than regular wrenching).
    I'd assumed that OP has already applied PlusGas or suitable release agent. FWIW external BB cups are cheap and expendable IMO
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • petemadoc
    petemadoc Posts: 2,331
    Took it to a local guy who does bike maintenance in the end. He had a stand that held the frame by the BB and the forks and a massive BB tool that looked like a naval door handle.

    Took about 5 seconds :oops:
  • maddog 2
    maddog 2 Posts: 8,114
    and you don't wear a cricket box in the garage?
    Facts are meaningless, you can use facts to prove anything that's remotely true! - Homer

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