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Splined crank dilemma

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01 / Original postSplined crank dilemmaCarey · 8 Oct 2005 02 / This pagePosts 1–8Page 1 of 1 · chronological order 03 / Latest replyPost #8Carey · 9 Oct 2005

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Original section
rec.sport.unicycling
Published
8 October 2005
Last activity
9 October 2005
Original author
Carey
Posts
8
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Public discussion
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331
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Topics
CranksetsTaper and peakingWet weather gear

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  1. Original post
    Carey
    Archived post
    #1

    Folks,

    Need advice to help me work with splined cranks.

    KH29 with Onza hub, splined hub and 150 cranks. I bought and installed
    a Big Apple for road riding (it does fit after all) and after testing
    the new tire, went to install the KH 125 cranks I bought for road
    operations. Changed out the left side without problem. On the right
    side, I tightened up the crank bolt into the axle and put on the dust
    cover before installing the pedals. I noticed that the hardware on the
    right side of the hub was clanging around as if I had not adequately
    tightened the bolt--so I leaned on it again, no success to close the
    gap.

    I called my son who is an avid cyclist who said that I may need to
    install spacers to make it fit properly. So, I went to remove the
    crank...now stuck with loose parts rattling on the axle outboard of the
    frame but inboard of the crank attachment. These parts on the left
    side are a relatively thick steel bushing that matches the inner race
    of the bearing, a large tapered washer that looks mostly like a
    mudguard, and a thinner steel washer just inboard of the crank arm. On
    the left side...it all snugs up properly. On the right, the crank arm
    doesn't seem to seat all the way down on the splines (maybe 1/16"
    showing) and the hardware does not come up snug as I tighten the crank
    arm bolt. Need help.

    How do I get the splined crank off the axle...my tapered crank puller
    won't work ( I expect there is a specific tool for splined cranks, any
    special variant required?). Next, is it the norm to have to shim up
    tapered cranks to eliminate play in the inboard hardware?

    Thanks in advance for your advice.

    Carey

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  2. befallin
    Archived post
    #2

    Hi Carey.
    Sounds like you may have pulled your axle slightly off centre.To get
    the cranks off ( if they are like my o4 kh cranks) is to rotate the
    cranks horizontal so you see the head of the crank allen screw.Remove
    this screw,put a small shim into the slot at the rear of the
    crank.Insert the screw from the bottom and tighten until you hit the
    shim, now use an allen key to SLOWLY force open the gap.Once the cranks
    are off measure the axle each side to ensure it is central.Fit both
    cranks at the same time, fitting them loosely then tightening them
    alternately until you get the right tension.Hope this helps.
    Stu

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  3. rogeratunicycledotcom
    Archived post
    #3

    You are right to not ride the unicycle if you have not got the cranks
    fitted correctly. They will be damaged if you do.
    As you son concludes it is imperative that on a splined crank system
    there is no movement of any of the spacers.
    Here is a link to a drawing that shows the assembly order and the
    position of all of the spacers, this should help you with the assembly.
    No extra are required, but the order is critical.

    http://www.unicycle.uk.com/images/hubexplanation.tif

    For removing the cranks, just install the nylon washer and the
    extractor ring that were on the unicycle originally (look out that the
    extractor ring has a reverse thread on it). You then just remove the
    allan key bolt and this pulls off the crank.

    The most commonly forgotten component when re-assembling the cranks is
    the "expanding spline lock ring" if you did not purchase any of these
    when you bought your new cranks you will need to use the ones in your
    old crank. A screwdriver will normally push this out for you.

    Roger

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  4. rogeratunicycledotcom
    Archived post
    #4
    befallin said:

    Hi Carey.
    Sounds like you may have pulled your axle slightly off centre.To get
    the cranks off ( if they are like my o4 kh cranks) .....

    No they are totally different and this can not happen.

    Roger

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  5. befallin
    Archived post
    #5

    oops.Thankyou Roger.Sorry Carey.

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  6. Carey
    Archived post
    #6

    Roger,

    Thanks for your response. The method for crank removal makes perfect
    sense.

    I went out and tried to back the axle bolt out with the reverse thread
    extractor ring. I got the axle bolt moving but was unsuccessful in
    getting the crank off (it is really stuck)--then the hex wrench slipped
    in the axle nut and rounded the edges...drat!

    I am a bit disappointed as I told the people at UDC/USA exactly what I
    wanted to do (have a spare set of easily replaceable 150s and 125s) and
    my cranks apparently arrived without the necessary hardware. Sounds
    like I did not get the expanding spline lock rings you mentioned. Now
    I'm in a fix. I also was surprised to find upon disassembly of the 150
    cranks that the two sides were not the same in terms of parts/washers
    and I spent a fair amount of time keeping them in order by
    side--doesn't sound quite right. I'll call them tomorrow, but I am
    stuck and I will likely have to send the whole assembly off to them to
    fix it. It is beyond my ability without tearing something up. Drat!

    Thanks for your help. I did take it down to a bike shop for advice
    today and ran into a real Neanderthal who had an ugly "big hammer" plan
    that caused me to flee with my uni. Hopefully I'll get the right help
    from UDC--I sure hope there is a way for me not to have to send it
    back, however. But, with the axle nut stripped and the crank in
    place...I'm probably hosed.

    Sigh,

    Carey

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  7. rogeratunicycledotcom
    Archived post
    #7

    Carey,

    Oh this is not good, I am sorry. It is fixable, just not easy. You
    need to have the bolt drilled out, then extracted using a stud
    extractor.

    I have had to do this several times and I have always succeeded without
    too much of a problem. So do not worry.

    I am puzzled by the cranks being so locked on, I have not seen this
    before. It is possible that the extractor locked up, but this does not
    normally happen unless you miss off the nylon washer. A good tip when
    re-assemble the cranks is to apply liberal amounts of grease around the
    bolt to help keep it free moving.

    Thinking about it, I have had one hub with a totally locked on crank,
    an old Onza which had been used in the sea rather too much and was
    rusted like mad. I solved that one by using a 3 legged puller and
    pulling the bearing off with the crank.... not a good solution as it is
    very risky, if the bearing had collapsed I would have definatley lost
    both hub and crank.

    The lock ring is not normally supplied with the cranks because in
    theory it is not needed. If you are just changing the cranks over, you
    take everthing from one set of cranks over to the other, so no problem.
    The reason we now sell the separately is that several people are
    switching cranks on a daily basis and want to leave one set in each of
    the sets of cranks. If the US don't have the expanding lock rings I
    can get one to you from the UK within a week.

    Roger

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  8. Carey
    Archived post
    #8

    Roger,

    I do have friends with the ability to do what you recommend. And, I
    believe that I could horse it off and get it to work. But, this is my
    brand new KH-29 and it is a disappointment to have this problem with
    the risk of damaging the unicycle--I plan to leave it to the pros. I
    am sure they will take care of this and do a good job of it. My
    problem is that I don't know what right looks like as the side that is
    now stuck does not have one of those little washers under the cover
    because it did not come with one (the one on the other side did,
    however).

    I plan to send this back to UDC/USA and ask them to fix it up along
    with proper configuration of both sets of cranks, so I can easily
    change cranks. Once they have it set up, I am sure I'll have no
    problems. I will miss it for the time away, however. I do want it to
    be right. It was an expensive unicycle and I like it.

    Carey

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