el twe

My 30+ year old pedals are just about dead, but rather than pull the plug on 'em, I'd like to simply repack the bearings (the LBS wrench says this is the problem). Being a tightwad, is there any way I can do this without buying any cone wrenches or the like? I have a pretty comprehensive set of wrenches, sockets, and other "regular" tools available to me, all I'd need is a pedal wrench (which I oughta get anyway). Any tips, suggestions, or am I just crazy? I really like these pedals - they work well with my clips - and I'd really like to salvage them. Thanks a bundle.

operator

Depends on what pedal this is....

jeff williams

So if you have the tools..
Pry into the past. The cones\races may be too eroded.
Socket set, small nose pliers, towel to catch the bearings.
https://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.p...95&postcount=9

.....c'mon.

el twe

They're just your run-of-the-mill platforms...But I loves them!

Retro Grouch 

What do you have to lose? Since you say these pedals are "just about dead" already, even if you screw them up you won't have lost much. Oh man! I just read your signature line.

Do one pedal at a time. Spread a paper towel on a table or work bench and start with the outer dust cap. Inside there will be a lock nut, hopefully an eared washer and a cone. You can take the lock nut off with an end wrench or small socket, the cone you might have to work loose with needle nose pliers. Count the number of balls, remove and seggregate them and pull out the axle and the balls from the other side.

Clean everything up. Examine the bearing surfaces for pits. If everything looks good, grease it up and reverse the procedure to reassemble the pedal. New ball bearings are cheap. If you decide to replace them, be sure to get exactly the same size or it will screw up the reassembly process. The only hard part might be resetting the bearing preload. If your pedals have the eared washers, even that can be a piece of cake.

el twe

Cool. How do I go about removing the dust cap? Should I screw it off or pry at it?

vrkelley

How often should the bearings be cleaned and examined like this?

el twe

Well, my pedals are rattley and poppy (when I pull up) like they're loose. Only, they're really well tightened on the crank arm. So, the wrench deems the bearings bad.

Retro Grouch 

Some things you just have to figure out for yourself. It depends on the pedal. I think that the last one that I did was a screw-off. Come to think of it, I'm kind of a screw-off too.

Retro Grouch 

Depends on where you live. Here in the midwest it's the kind of thing that you'd normally do in Janurary or February when you're bored to tears. I kind of think that the guys who live in So-Cal might never have to do it.

jeff williams

Depends on how much you ride and how much dirt get into the pedals.
I change the grease say 4 times a year (I offroad some) I pull them apart and re-settle the cones\races as soon as there is any play on the spindle.
I'm on my 3rd set of bearings in pedals 1.75 yrs old.

vrkelley

I put on about 5.5K/year maybe more of mostly wet road and light gravel riding. If I spin a pedal hard there's a sandy grinding sound. Time to head out the garage and check 'em out.

jeff williams

If you run brinelled? (scratched,pitted) balls they wreck the race\cones.
The sound is probably fouled balls and\or dirt in the grease.

Take a ball into the lbs and get new ones (count so you'll know how many).
I bought some Phil Woods bearing grease, expensive put nice.

In the link I provided there is a (poor) description on how to tighten the race\cones back when done.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.p...95&postcount=9