Should I Buy A Pedal Wrench?

[Slaphappygamer]

I wouldn't have made it many miles with assembly grease,..


View attachment 183589View attachment 183587

Torch it!

 

[il Munduato]

Obviously you do not ride your bike in the rain or park your bike in the rain while shopping, attending a meeting or concert, working. You do not park your bike even in a garage near the sea like Galveston or any other ocean island.
I have a can of Permatex silver anti-sieze that is 30 years old. It is used up. I have not seen another for sale in an auto supply for 30 years. The auto supply is selling copper anti-sieze from somebody else. I have a can of that out at the summer property.
Had to cut a clutch adjustment nut off the rod of a tractor with a file this summer: Turned the ears of the nut off with a tubing wrench I bought special to match the 17 mm nut, even after heating. 4 hours on my back of wheaky wheaky wheaky. It is the wrong distance off the ground to use a grinder. Too high to lift the grinder up from the ground: too low to sit up. I do not have a lift for tractors. If I booger the rod threads I could order another, maybe, from Japan, which might ship in a year

Too bad you didn't think to put anti-seize on that clutch adjustment nut... Have you taken the tractor shopping in the rain?

But I agree that you should use protection.... Why not get yourself some crank condoms?

 

[il Munduato]

Torch it!

The entire vehicle

 

[PCeBiker]

I never bother with anti-seize as it's designed to be used when dealing with extreme temperatures causing big swings in expansion /contraction and corrosive conditions.

OK let me rephrase as a question.
Are you suggesting that anti-seize is unnecessary or that it is ill-advised to use it?

Anti-seize doesn't just tolerate extreme temperatures, it tolerates extreme pressures.

 

[il Munduato]

OK let me rephrase as a question.
Are you suggesting that anti-seize is unnecessary or that it is ill-advised to use it?

Anti-seize doesn't just tolerate extreme temperatures, it tolerates extreme pressures.

I've never had an issue just using grease.
A pedal isn't subject to high temperatures or extreme pressures.
I do treat my bicycle a little better than a rented mule so again. . . ymmv

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Just to clarify the things:

• Cheap pedals require a flat wrench
• More expensive pedals are loosened or tightened with a 8 or 6 mm hex wrench from the inside.

I even do not grease my pedals (nor use I the anti-seize paste). The secret is to torque the pedals lightly. They have the tendency to self-tighten. I have never had the issue of seized pedals while removing them,

 

[indianajo]

Too bad you didn't think to put anti-seize on that clutch adjustment nut... Have you taken the tractor shopping in the rain?
I wonder if they come lubricated?

I bought the tractor used. It is ~37 years old and no, low cost tractor manufacturers do not put anti-sieze on anything. The more parts you booger, the more money they make. If you buy a $300000 John Deere , maybe they use anti-sieze. My Ford 1520 was kept in a barn or cover; the paint is beautiful. Low hours, but rust never sleeps.
I never ever got a pedal or crank off a bicycle until 2 years ago on my Yuba. The flats always rounded off, however much force I used. My Mother had a muti-purpose bike wrench shaped like a Swan float with a pedal slot that came with her 1946 Firestone safety bike. Useless piece of garbage. The bike was industrial strength.

 

[m@Robertson]

Read the labels @PCeBiker posted...

Permatex silver is not for wheel studs? Pfffft... every tool kit in a race track paddock on test'n'tune day has a little jar of that stuff somewhere, and it goes on the wheel studs.

The copper stuff is supposedly for brakes, usually as a 'disc brake quiet' thing, but I've never felt a need to put grease anywhere near a braking system. If my pads are squealing I just need to drive harder to get 'em up to temp.

My little tub o' Permatex Silver with its built-in brush has been going strong for at least 10 years. Amazon still sells the stuff.

BTW the Permatex green brake grease is fantastic for an ultra aggressive grease where you need it to stick to something like glue and stay there. Did a great job as a Viscoset refill.

 

[m@Robertson]

...The secret is to torque the pedals lightly. They have the tendency to self-tighten. I have never had the issue of seized pedals while removing them,

So many people are clueless about this, and tighten pedals to a torque spec in the 40 Nm range, which makes sense to the legal department of whoever is selling pedals, but mechanically is ridiculous.

Just-snugged pedals are a secret I have always tried to give away, but there are seldom any takers. People want to tighten the things and can't wrap their heads around the fact they cannot loosen with normal use, and tighten over time.

If they do loosen ... something is very wrong with the pedal or the install. I DO use anti seize religiously on pedals (or a drop of light oil in a pinch). Loading a bike inside of a car is much much easier if you remove the pedals first. With pedals just snugged on the crankarms, they come off fast and easy with one sharp tub on the hex wrench (a sharp tug because they naturally tighten themselves) and then easily put right back on again when I drag the bike out of the car.

One reason to use anti-seize or lubricate threads period: it prevents galling of the threads after repeated install and removal. Thats the reason we always used anti-seize on wheel studs on a car being raced on-track. You would do tire rotations maybe 3-4 times in a day and thats really hard on the threads... unless you grease them up and back off your torque spec by 10% to compensate for what greased threads do to the torque process.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

So many people are clueless about this, and tighten pedals to a torque spec in the 40 Nm range, which makes sense to the legal department of whoever is selling pedals, but mechanically is ridiculous.

Just-snugged pedals are a secret I have always tried to give away, but there are seldom any takers. People want to tighten the things and can't wrap their heads around the fact they cannot loosen with normal use, and tighten over time.

I fully agree with you. The only situation under which a pedal might unscrew itself on a ride is when the internal bearings of the pedal have stuck, which indicates a damaged pedal.

 

[smorgasbord]

I fully agree with you. The only situation under which a pedal might unscrew itself on a ride is when the internal bearings of the pedal have stuck, which indicates a damaged pedal.

And even then the direction of the threads would make that tighten, not loosen, the pedal. Hardest thing about pedal removal is remembering which way is loose on which pedal.

Hint: Right pedal threads are the normal (right) way. Left pedal thread are the opposite (left to tighten).

 

[PCeBiker]

I fully agree with you. The only situation under which a pedal might unscrew itself on a ride is when the internal bearings of the pedal have stuck, which indicates a damaged pedal.

I had a CCM Pursuit 10 when I was 12 years old.
A ten speed like this,..

Shortly after I got it, the right pedal partly unthreaded and started to wobble. By the time I noticed, the pedal was cross-threaded and I couldn't thread it back in.
I used a hammer to keep smacking the pedal straight as I slowly screwed it back in, and managed to get it threaded all the way in.

Then I Tightened The Hell out of it with the hammer.

So to answer the question "Should I buy a pedal wrench?"
Yes you should. And a hammer.
Bigger hammers work better.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

And even then the direction of the threads would make that tighten, not loosen, the pedal. Hardest thing about pedal removal is remembering which way is loose on which pedal.

Hint: Right pedal threads are the normal (right) way. Left pedal thread are the opposite (left to tighten).

It is easy for me. Insert the hex wrench into the socket with its long end pointing towards the rear of the bike. Push the wrench end downwards. It always works.

Watch from 1:05.

 

[nutdriver]

I've had pedals that were so tight that I'd need to put a pipe wrench on that T-handle.
I remember having to use a hammer on the wrench to break a pedal free.

I use my socket set for pedals.

View attachment 183553

I would also recommend anti seize lube on the threads.

Like PCeBiker, I use this same type wrench combination anytime I need to remove a pedal.

Also, I would recommend the use of pedal washers if not already on your bike.

 

[Aushiker]

I had never seen or heard of pedal washers and, hence, never used them on any of my bikes over the years. What is seen as the advantage of them?

 

[il Munduato]

I had never seen or heard of pedal washers and, hence, never used them on any of my bikes over the years. What is seen as the advantage of them?

I concur... I wash my pedals with the rest of the bike.

 

[nutdriver]

I had never seen or heard of pedal washers and, hence, never used them on any of my bikes over the years. What is seen as the advantage of them?

There are lots of forums where this is discussed. I do not know that it is essential but a preferred practice.

Here is one reference:

Reference

 

[Aushiker]

There are lots of forums where this is discussed. I do not know that it is essential but a preferred practice.

Here is one reference:

Reference

Interesting.

 

[smorgasbord]

Any reason a standard hardware store washer isn't good enough?

 

[nutdriver]

Any reason a standard hardware store washer isn't good enough?

I have always gotten pedal washers when I purchased pedals. You can certainly try going to the hardware store but I think it may be a challenge to match up the typical dimensions. Pedal washers are fairly thin, polished, and the inside dimension relative to the outer dimension is not typical of standard hardware store washers. There are lower cost options, but Amazon requires purchase of greater quantiles than most will need. I would see what your local bike store may have or other online stores. Here is a typical photo of a pedal washer.