How do i remove a seized bottom bracket???

[mattbrown]

Im trying to remove a bottom bracket but it just wont budge, and yes i am turning it the right way, before i bugger up the thread totally, are there any sure ways of removing it, it has a plastic cup on one side, so im thinking of blow torching it out on that side, any easier ideas???

 

[Anthony]

You need to remove the plastic adapter first, attach the bb tool to the bb with the crank bolt and a big washer, put the bb tool in a clamp attached to a work bench/shed frame/similar and turn the frame against the clamp - you basically get two or three times the leverage, even compared to a long handled wrench. At least as it's plastic it can't be rusted in.

 

[andy.l]

My Funk arrived from Jez with a plastic welded in b/b,i put the blow torch on it and hit it out with a rubber mallet whilst the plastic was molten,i didnt have to worry about paint tho on my frame,dunno if you do?

 

[mattbrown]

Well the plastic cup side is buggered, no teeth left there, and the alloy one aint so good, tried the vice thing but my bb tool slips after a while, i aint strong enough to tighten it extremely tight, i have emptied a can of 3in1 oil down the seat tube and will let it soak,

 

[Wold Ranger]

Stuck

U should be able to bolt the removal tool in to the axle with a large washer, even if the indents are dodgy it should turn. I would use the drive side which is left hand threaded!

 

[REKIBorter]

Patience and every tool in your toolbox is the answer

 

[Hermit]

Patience and every tool in your toolbox is the answer

THEN, smash it out with a club hammer :shock:

Had the same problem last year, tried all of the above - bolting tools on, vice, drifts, punches, blow torch, etc, etc. But I ran out of teeth or anything else to grip onto on the cups, last resort was to smash it out using a club hammer by supporting the BB on the vice jaws (the plastic side melted and I dug it out and wacked the axle from the drive side) but this was an early 90's saracen steel frame that will still be intact when the earth is a nuclear wasteland probably not recommended this way if you have a aluminium frame though?

The BB body eventually cracked, it had sort of rust-welded itself to the BB shell, the the alloy cup just sort of bent as the axle slowly pushed the whole lot out, had the threads chased at lbs and all's well now.

Pic of the offending item:

I was nearly in tears though as I took the hammer to it, so good luck and hope you don't have to do the 'last resort'

 

[mattbrown]

I have fianlly done it, popped down to halfords today and bought a canister blowtorch, tried ot see if the plastic cup would melt out in anyway - it didnt, then blow torched the bb area on the frame, and then just hit the axle with a hammer, and to doubly make sure the bb tool was secure in the vice, used a steel bar ot add leverage on the vice arm, and it moved, slow at first. i then blowtorched and picked out the plastic cup on the other side, the bb area on the drive side looks a bit blackened, but should clean up. now a happy chappy, this easter hols is shaping up nicely

 

[SeeingisBelievingGTMuseum]

I bought a couple different length 8mm bolts at the hardware store for firmly holding the tool in the bottom bracket splines while I loosen it. I always use a large adjustable wrench with a 4' pipe slid over the wrench. LEVERAGE baby.
Never had one I couldn't get out in 12 yrs in a bike shop plus all the stuff at home.

 

[syncrosfiend]

mattbrown, et al.......after taking a torch to a frame...regardless of material, make SURE to have the threads chased with a chasing tool that's proper to the shell thread pitch.

one other very good bit of advice to pass along. stop using plumbers tape, teflon tape, lithium or silicone based greases, along with marine greases for bottom bracket shell threads and bottom bracket cup threads.

these sorts of products break down very fast and can purge easily on install.

instead, use anti seize. it's various powdered metals mixed with an oil that is designed to keep parts from seizing. it's water proof and won't purge like grease.....AND has a much higher temp rating than even the most expensive greases out there...even the one used for trucks/lorries.

i've had to use up to 4 and 6 foot cheater bars to get out seized cups....and every time i get them off....i always find something from the above list.

if you've been using grease since the paleozoic era and it's always worked, fine. but trust me when i say this, i've seen more ruined frames that could have been saved if anti seize was used.