Bicycle Mechanics - Having an incredibly hard time removing old-style cup-and-cone bottom bracket.

I am having one hell of a time removing the bottom bracket from an old 1980s Trek frame. The bottom bracket is an older style cup-and-cone bottom bracket. I have tried everything, and I'm not sure if the bottom bracket isn't just rusted or seized into the frame. Even the bb spindle won't rotate.

I am using a Hozan lockring spanner wrench, and I have tried to remove the left-side lockring, but it just will not loosen. I am turning the non-drive lockring counterclockwise to try and loosen, but it won't budge. It's been awhile since I've worked on these and my understanding is to remove completely the left (non-drive) lockring and cup first before proceeding to the removal of the drive-side lockring and cup. Any ideas???
:(

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/thumbnails/bbtool2.jpg

Try using a screw driver and a hammer to loosen the lock ring. From there, you should be able to remove the adjustable cup. If it is being difficult, try tapping it to free up the rust that may be holding it in place. Remove the fixed cup by rotating clockwise.

Same here. the adjusting cup on my 90 Schwinn Traveler was froze when I bought it off a guy who had it hung up in his barn for who knows how many years.
Bent the cheap spanner wrench I had so I took it to the LBS and they got it but when I picked it up they were too busy to ask them how they freed it up.
Good luck

Try some PB Blaster to break any rust and crud loose.

Your picture shows you loosening it CW, not CCW

extreme heat normaly works for me [blow torch]


just be careful....

Your picture shows you loosening it CW, not CCW
Looks like that to me also. DO NOT use a screw driver. You will cause more damage than you want. A good penetrating oil and a punch will work. Only use the punch and hammer if absolutely necessary

I'll second what has been said here - your photo shows you tightening the lockring, not loosening it.

-Kurt "when in doubt, spin it the other way" K.

Your picture shows you loosening it CW, not CCW



Actually, I am trying to loosen the left (non-drive) lockring by turning the Hozan wrench counterclockwise. I know. The pic is deceiving. It's not actually my picture anyway. I just linked to it from Sheldon Brown's website, so that people would have an idea of what style of bb I am trying to remove. Man, my hands hurt so much trying to remove the darn thing and I still can't get it to budge.

Looks like that to me also. DO NOT use a screw driver. You will cause more damage than you want. A good penetrating oil and a punch will work. Only use the punch and hammer if absolutely necessary


Ahh! Penetrating oil. Good idea. I think I may give this one a try. Anyone know any good type of penetrating oil besides KY Jelly or Astroglide? The bike shop doesn't seem to stock this stuff, so I may try down at the Home Depot.

WD 40 is the common brand, sold at Walmart and other fine hardware establishments.

In a case like this, spray it on/in, let it set a day or two, spray some more on, wait a while...don't get in a hurry unless you just need it fixed now. If you're going to disassemble the whole thing anyway, spray a bunch inside the BB assembly if you can, not just on the threads.

Ahh! Penetrating oil. Good idea. I think I may give this one a try. Anyone know any good type of penetrating oil besides KY Jelly or Astroglide? The bike shop doesn't seem to stock this stuff, so I may try down at the Home Depot.

I use Liquid Wrench brand of penetrating oil. Some swear by PB Blaster, see Navy_Chief above. An auto store or local hardware store should have a decent selection of penetrating oils.

If the bb spindle isn't even rotating don't worry too much about damaging stuff, as there isn't anything you can do that'll make the bike any less rideable right now.
And unless there's something very special about that lockring its an easily (and cheaply) replaceable item.
If nothing else seems to work, cut it off.

Then as the others say - patience, penetrating oil, heat, and carefully applied violence.
One thing you might add quite far down on the list of possible actions is to squeeze/hammer the bb shell against the cups. If the cups have seized due to rust development in the threads, then compressing the bb shell against the cups might be enough to break up the rust so that the cups can be unscrewed.

For a classical square taper cup & cone bb you might just as well pull the DS cup first.
Only downside is that the DS cup is usually the one fighting back, often requiring to be clamped in a vise in order for the mech to be able to use the whole frame for leverage. If the NDS cup is giving you trouble already then that doesn't bode well for the DS cup.
The DS cup can be cleaned, inspected and regreased reasonably well in place, so unless it's damaged it's often easier to leave it in place.

There is a plier type lockring tool which will grab the lockring on opposing sides at the same time. It will give you a better grip on the offending ring.

All of the above, PB blaster, tapping, heat, THEN put the wrench on and hit the end with a dead-blow hammer. The shock is what will loosen it. Or put the frame on he ground and use your body weight on the wrench.

I have cut off lockrings before with my dremel

You don't need to even bother removing the lock ring. Spend more attention removing the cup, and the lockring with come off with it.

Penetrating oil (not WD-40), time, some mild heat, oil, time, heat, oil, time, heat..... Never seen one yet that will not come out.

BTW, not to be the voice of gloom, but if the adjustable cup is this hard, you are in for a lot of fun with the fixed cup. I think you should just sit the entire BB in a tub of pentrating oil and forget about it for a week.

jim

HOLY CRAP! I just got the bottom bracket to come off! Thanks for all those that gave some great ideas. In the end, I think what did it for me was patience and soaking if with Liquid Wrench.

I didn't have access to a vise, but I got a 3 foot long metal tube that I placed over the wrench. A friend helped me steady it and after a couple tries, I got it out! I soaked the bb in liquid wrench and tried a little every day. I think eventualy the liquidy stuff worked its way in there, and today was my lucky day.

THANKS EVERYONE!