OTish: Decent 15mm Spanner

Slightly OT as it's for a cycle. I'm trying to undo the pedal (steel) from a crank (aluminium) and it won't shift. Left-hand crank, clockwise unscrew (hopefully).

I've got the crank off and in a vice, used a fair bit of force on the crank, bent one spanner and broken two (all cheap) and it still won't shift. So I'm inspired by this bloke's spanner:

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Any idea where to get that or equivalent open ended spanner? The brand there seems to end in 'man'. When I used to buy this sort of thing it used to be Britool (not that I could afford them), but that was 30 years ago.

I could get a dedicated pedal spanner, but they look a bit feeble by comparison.

Would it help to heat it? Not sure if the steel might expand more than the aluminium.

Reply to
RJH
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From the POV of value for money, I think Halfords Pro range is good:

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Assuming the pedal you want to remove is scrap, take it to bits so only the spindle is left, then hold the spindle in the vice. You can then use a soft- face hammer on the crank to shock it free, and/or use a piece of pipe to get more leverage.

And you save the price of the spanner. ;-)

Chris

Reply to
Chris Whelan

Aluminium expands more than steel. Steel shaft in an aluminium housing - use heat Aluminium shaft in a steel housing- stick it in the freezer.

Gentle temperature cycling may help produce enough of a gap to let penetrating fluid in.

Example Ebay listing of what you may want

OR

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and/or

Shock it off by hitting the spanner with a lump hammer - probably more suited to the cheap pedal spanners with the wide/flat shafts

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Reply to
alan_m

Plus gas and soak it first , aluminum oxides seizing in that's why your struggling .

You can use heat but its likely to damage any plastics

Reply to
steve robinson

Get a dedicated pedal spanner - they work. Longer than a normal spanner, and the head although thinner has more metal backing it than a normal spanner so it won't break. (It has to be thinner to fit any pedal with flare on the end, eg Shimano). They take a fair amount of abuse IME - I've broken cheap normal spanners, but the pedal spanner is still entirely whole.

I'd probably get a Park PW5 - but I do have enough bikes and have removed and replaced enough pedals to make it worthwhile.

Reply to
Clive George

You must have searched the globe to find spanners that feeble. Even a cheap set from Lidl or Aldi won't break using your hands. But the easiest good quality single ones to buy would be Halfords Pro combination (ring one end, open end the other, both the same size)

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

I've broken a few of the set I bought for bugger all money 20-odd years ago at the open end - rings are still fine though. They were sufficiently cheap that despite the failures I think it's still been good value.

But for shifting a stuck pedal I'd be abusing a normal spanner - putting a longer lever on it, hitting it with a hammer, etc. I'm not that nasty to my nice ones, and I'd expect many to not cope. Be interesting to see how much abuse a snap-on could take :-)

Reply to
Clive George

This was one:

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I used it with a 12" extension tube, jaw snapped. It wasn't that hard to find - google search. Not sure where the others came from.

Indeed. That's what intrigued me about the spanner shown in the video.

Reply to
RJH

the nice thing about the snap on is that it would be replaced free (if it broke)

as to the op, you need some heat, and a decent spanner or make your own, a piece of T shaped bar with a 15mm cut out on one side would be a good start.

Reply to
MrCheerful

Tempting, but would it take an extension tube as in the video? They don't look that chunky. Ido have 5 or 6 Halfords Pro spanners - but not flippin 15mm.

Yes, that's what I've done, but I don't have a piece of tube big enough to go over the crank.

Indeed! But now I'm going to need another 15mm having mangled all the others.

Reply to
RJH

Thanks - I'll try heating/penetrating fluid.

That's more like it. Even the Park ones look like cheap stamped steel, and a few reviews report bending.

Think I'll go with the one above. It's already been subjected to quite a bit of force.

Reply to
RJH

Thanks, I'll give that go, with heat. The bike is about 30 years old and I've no reason to believe these aren't the original pedals.

it's OK - the pedal is stripped down to the steel spindle.

Reply to
RJH

While I've not done this on a bike, on other seized bolts I've never damaged a spanner. By the time I've tried all my weight on the end of a

6-foot scaffold pole over the spanner I've usually sheared the bolt.
Reply to
Graham J

Yes, I've been quite surprised. When I used to work on cars bouncing about on a 3' scaffold pole wasn't unusual, especially with hub and flywheel nuts/bolts. Still got that socket set - a basic Draper. And I don't remember breaking a spanner. 15mm is quite a small size, considering the pressure I've been applying, though.

Reply to
RJH

warm it up, in the oven will do if you have no blowtorch

Reply to
MrCheerful

Ah - right. More normal with a decent open ender is that it rounds off the nut, rather than break. I take it you can't use a socket? Even a slim one?

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Galvanic corrosion. Ideally leave the crank/pedal interface soaking in penetrating oil for a couple of days. If you only have penetrating oil spray to hand, something like 4 parts paraffin or diesel to 1 part lube oil will do.

Aluminium expands about twice as much as steel, so heat is good. Also, if you are using a gas torch on the outside the crank will initially get hotter than the spindle. Impact sometimes helps to shift things.

I'd expect an ordinary spanner to be good enough, unless you really do a lot of bike maintenance. But you will probably need a decent length of cheater.

Reply to
newshound

Pedals normally only have two flats, not six. And there's the minor matter of a 2-3" spindle sticking out too :-)

I've never had pedal axles round - they're probably made of decent steel, because they form the bearing surface for the main bearing, and they need to be quite strong to withstand people jumping on them - breaking an axle gets very painful.

Reply to
Clive George

Yeah, pedal axles are quite hard, usually. If anything breaks it'll be the hole in the crank.

Reply to
Chris Bartram

With you now, Not had a bike for ages and the design of such things has changed since I had. ;-) A decent stud extractor?

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

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