Red Loctite on Tapers

Uni.com says to put red loctite on crank arm tapers (and blue on the
threads of course).Does anybody do this? Would it make it extremely
difficult to take them off if you needed to?


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mscalisi - Not such a newbie anymore
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I don't use ANY loctite on ANYTHING. I have no problems and use a
torque wrench to exert at least 45 foot pounds of force on the spindle
bolts.

In fact, before I put arms onto the hub, I clean both surfaces with a
degreaser (sometimes Simple Green, sometimes just lighter fluid) and
keep anything greasy away from them.

My setup is: UDC hub, Stainless Spokes, 700c rim, torker black 127mm
cranks and pedals with toeclips. Bontrager tire and tube.


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hopeful - revelling in the glory of 700c

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Red loctite on the tapers isn't necessary, but won't necessarily do any
harm either. It will still be just as easy to remove the cranks even if
there is red loctite on the tapers. Just use a proper crank puller tool
and make sure the crank puller is threaded fully in the crank.

The Loctite will act as a lubricant, much like grease, and will help the
crank slide on the taper as the crank is installed. Grease will
accomplish the same task and is cheaper and easier to deal with. Stick
with grease and avoid the Loctite on the tapers.

The only time that Loctite on the tapers might be handy is if you have a
crank or a hub with a wonky taper. One of the tapers on my mini giraffe
is wonky. I'm not sure if it's one of the crank tapers or hub tapers.
In any event, one of the cranks would never stay tight and would loosen
up very quickly. In desperation I put some super heavy duty Loctite
sleeve retainer on the tapers and it has been tight ever since. My mini
giraffe has steel cranks. I don't think this would work with aluminum
cranks because aluminum cranks move up and down the tapers under normal
use and that movement would break the Loctite bond.

Loctite on the crank nut is a good thing and keeps the crank nut from
working loose on its own.


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Thanks for your input! It sounds like your setup is mainly for flatland,
is this true, or do you do anything in the way of hops and drops on
it?

hopeful wrote:
*I don't use ANY loctite on ANYTHING. I have no problems and use a
torque wrench to exert at least 45 foot pounds of force on the spindle
bolts.

In fact, before I put arms onto the hub, I clean both surfaces with a
degreaser (sometimes Simple Green, sometimes just lighter fluid) and
keep anything greasy away from them.

My setup is: UDC hub, Stainless Spokes, 700c rim, torker black 127mm
cranks and pedals with toeclips. Bontrager tire and tube. *



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mscalisi - Not such a newbie anymore
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Thanks John! I seem to have particularly bad luck with loose cranks (or
maybe just really bad technique). I just ordered some red loctite for
desperate situations.

john_childs wrote:
*Red loctite on the tapers isn't necessary, but won't necessarily do
any harm either. It will still be just as easy to remove the cranks
even if there is red loctite on the tapers. Just use a proper crank
puller tool and make sure the crank puller is threaded fully in the
crank.

The Loctite will act as a lubricant, much like grease, and will help
the crank slide on the taper as the crank is installed. Grease will
accomplish the same task and is cheaper and easier to deal with.
Stick with grease and avoid the Loctite on the tapers.

The only time that Loctite on the tapers might be handy is if you have
a crank or a hub with a wonky taper. One of the tapers on my mini
giraffe is wonky. I'm not sure if it's one of the crank tapers or hub
tapers. In any event, one of the cranks would never stay tight and
would loosen up very quickly. In desperation I put some super heavy
duty Loctite sleeve retainer on the tapers and it has been tight ever
since. My mini giraffe has steel cranks. I don't think this would
work with aluminum cranks because aluminum cranks move up and down the
tapers under normal use and that movement would break the Loctite
bond.

Loctite on the crank nut is a good thing and keeps the crank nut from
working loose on its own. *



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mscalisi wrote:
*Thanks John! I seem to have particularly bad luck with loose cranks
(or maybe just really bad technique). I just ordered some red loctite
for desperate situations.

*

Even better would be to buy a 'torque wrench'
(http://tinyurl.com/2wz8l). With a torque wrench you can get the crank
nut tight every time. Without a torque wrench you cannot be consistent
in how tight you get the crank nuts. Without the torque wrench it's
just guess work. You may think it's tightened tightly, but it's
actually not. Only the torque wrench will let you know for sure.

I had a crank get loose on a Coker ride because it was not tight enough.
That was before I had a torque wrench. Now I have a torque wrench and
that will never happen again.


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I've got a way to deal with loose cranks, and it works very well for me
at least

1. clean the taper of both cranks and axle treads
2. put on the cranks
3. apply grease on the treads and axle nuts
4. torque the nuts down to 600 inlb and loosen
5. repeat step 4 3 times
6. remove nuts
7. apply loctite and torque to 600 inlb again




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peculiar - muni newbie

-Simplicity is beauty-
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It looks like I'm going to buy a torque wrench!

john_childs wrote:
*
Even better would be to buy a 'torque wrench'
(http://tinyurl.com/2wz8l). With a torque wrench you can get the
crank nut tight every time. Without a torque wrench you cannot be
consistent in how tight you get the crank nuts. Without the torque
wrench it's just guess work. You may think it's tightened tightly,
but it's actually not. Only the torque wrench will let you know for
sure.

I had a crank get loose on a Coker ride because it was not tight
enough. That was before I had a torque wrench. Now I have a torque
wrench and that will never happen again. *



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mscalisi - Not such a newbie anymore
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I do hops AND drops on my setup. When you buy a torque wrench, get a
craftsman, simply because of the lifetime guarantee! If it breaks, you
take it back and they give you a new one right there.


--
hopeful - revelling in the glory of 700c

a sawzall...!? why not just use an axe. -- Jagur

Long live the Lotus -- Mojoe
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