# Need help on removing Shimano Pedals please!



## BassFearMe (Jun 21, 2007)

hi guys. i'm having the toughest time removing my Shimano clipless pedals. I stripped 2 15mm craftsman wrenches and 2 craftsman allen 6mm wrenches (good thing it's life time warranties) and i even got a "actual" pedal wrench from Bike Warehouse size 15mm, and it's still banged up the pedal wrench.. i luckily gotten the left side of the pedal off but its the right pedal that is giving the most problems ever. :madman: "righty tighty and lefty loosey" and still dont work.. and this is for the right side of the pedal!

can you guys provide any assistance? like is there something i can spray on it to bust it loose? i'm kinda pissed off i spent 15 bucks on a pedal wrench and it stripped. beofre i had no problem removing these pedals but now it's a pain in the ass!

any help you guys can give me would be great!


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## jedicoder (Jun 21, 2007)

I'm not sure which side, but one side is threaded the opposite way, so it would be righty loosey, lefty tighty. Also, don't use a hammer to "tap" on the wrench. Leverage is your friend. I usually get a 2 ft. piece of pvc pipe and slide it over the hex wrench end, and loosen.


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## Kristatos (Oct 15, 2007)

Bummer you stripped some wrenches, good thing they are warrantied and hope you didn't catch your knuckles on a chainring or something! Good thing also the wrenches stripped and not your pedals. 

I would recommend the following:
- spray some WD40 or teflon lube into the spindle/crank area from both sides (pedal body or "outside" and inside of crank) - let it soak in a few minutes and repeat.
- Get your bike up on a workstand if possible
- if using the allen wrench get an old seatpost or pipe about a foot in length and use it to get extra leverage, if using the pedal wrench you should be okay
- Brace the cranks with the right (stuck) crank in the 2 o'clock position, put your pedal back into the left crank (but don't tighten too hard) and hold it with your left hand to brace
- Using either your allen/pipe combo or pedal wrench in the 11 o'clock position torque down and to the rear (left) to break the torque. Wear leather/canvas gloves 

You can adjust the positions to what feel more natural to you. You may want to put the chain on the big ring so if you bash your hand on it you do less damage. It may also work better depending on how you brace the bike to have the right pedal in the 4 to 5 o'clock position so you are torquing downwards and away from your chainring. Go get yourself a good torque wrench when you're done or at least don't put a death-grip on your new pedals when you install them! Good luck.


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## BassFearMe (Jun 21, 2007)

thanks for the advice guys. i'm gonna try out your methods, gonna go get some liquid wrench and soak it in there too.. i even tried a metal bar for leverage with the allen wrenchs as well as with the box wrenches but it wont budge

the wrenches are stripped, the pedals kinda start to get rounded off.. i dont care to much for these pedals i just want them off. 

hopefully the liquid wrench will do the trick


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## dauber76 (Feb 23, 2006)

First, make sure you are turning it the right way. If you are working on the drive-side pedal (right side of the bike), it should be a standard thread (counter-clockwise to remove). Sounds like you are doing it the right way, but be 100% sure or you will never get the pedal off. 

When you are sure you are turning it the right way, follow Kristatos's instructions and your pedal should come off. If you still have problems, take it to an LBS and let them fight it.


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## BassFearMe (Jun 21, 2007)

nothing works! sucks. i spray liquid wrench on it and let it sit for 20 minutes, used anothert 15 mm wrench, that one broke (cheap taiwan version). i even used a mechanical vise-grip wrench and it wont budged.. this is the right pedal so i'm going counter clockwise.

i took apart the clipless pedal, only thing in the crank arm is a long shaft (no clip attachments, just the actual shaft with the treaded end that is in the crank arm) tried to clamp on to the shaft using the vice but no workie.. i dont care about these clipless thats why i'm dont mind trashing them

i think i might have to take it to the LBS, or i can try the heat method, heat the crank arm up with a torch and let the aluminum crank arm expand a bit then try to break it looose again?

you guys have any experience with heating you metals so it can expand?

but then again i guess i should quit the BS and just take it to the LBS. lol


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## Kristatos (Oct 15, 2007)

Dude, bummer. Maybe you need to upgrade your crankset? 

I'm all out of ideas, sorry!


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## BassFearMe (Jun 21, 2007)

no problems man. thanks fo rthe help.

new crankset? i have a 2007 Gary Fisher Cobia.. i think it has Shimano cranks, other than that i dunno. i'm too to bikes.

what would be a decent upgrade or compareable to the crank taht comes with the Gary Fisher Cobias?


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## Kristatos (Oct 15, 2007)

I was kidding a little about the crankset, but now that I think about it - you don't want the pedals anyways. All you really need is to replace the right-hand crank-arm with the spider that has the pedal stuck into it. Maybe call around local bike shops and see if anyone has a crank-arm that matches? Just need to get the same length. You may be able to get something for less than they'll charge you to extract that pedal.


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## konut (Mar 25, 2006)

just a small note of intrest..

both pedals tighten towrds the front of the bike and both slacken towards the rear.


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## bighitdon (Oct 28, 2004)

he's got the right direction of orientation. i'm guessing that it is just an issue of the pedals being siezed.

did you buy the bike from the same shop you'll be taking it to? every bike should be asemble with some lubricant or other chemical to prevent pedals from siezing, but of course it doesn't always work.

if you've got a torch, try that method. at the shop, it's what they are going to do. spray with PB blaster, soak 20 min, heat, cool. repeat at least 3 times. if you can get the other pedal off, inspect it an see if there was in fact any lubricant (usually grease, but sometimes an antisieze) on the pedal threads. if not, complain to the shop if they are the ones who put them on and regardless of the damages it should cost you nothing.

also, if you are short on leverage (provided there is anything left for a wrench to grab) place the non drive crank arm parallel to the chainstay and secure it there with toe clip straps or several zip ties, etc. them put a good size cheater bar on the wrench ~ 3 foot or so should do the trick, though i've used up to 8 foot in the past. someone else to hold the bike in the stand is also useful. this kind of force tends to tip even steel plate based shop stands.

good luck.


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## Cheers! (Jun 26, 2006)

jedicoder said:


> I'm not sure which side, but one side is threaded the opposite way, so it would be righty loosey, lefty tighty. Also, don't use a hammer to "tap" on the wrench. Leverage is your friend. I usually get a 2 ft. piece of pvc pipe and slide it over the hex wrench end, and loosen.


I disagree. As a avid classic car restorer and hobby mechanic as well as a mechanical engineer I can tell you the hammer tapping the wrench method is much better than leverage. When you use the hammer method you are impacting the seized threads much like what an impact driver does.

In your case you should be heating the pedal/crank arm first. Can you take off your crank arm? Mount it in a vise wrapped with a towel to prevent the jaws of the vice from scratching up the crank arms. Wet the towels and get a propane torch out. Same ones you use for plumbing. Heat the spindle of the pedal carefully. Get her pretty hot. This will slightly expand the spindle and hopefully break loose the seized threads. Then take the torch away and spray penetrating lube into the interface between the arm and the pedal spindle. Liquid Wrench or others (WD40 in a bind, but it's kinda not what it's meant for). It will smoke. Don't fear, it's just some of the oils vaporizing.

Now before it cools place your wrench on the pedal and tap it with a hammer.

Note that direction matters. One side is left hand threaded and one side is right hand threaded.

By using huge amounts of leverage (cheater bars, breaker bar, etc) you might end up ripping the aluminum threads right out of the crank arm.

Next time you put this own put some antiseize on the pedal spindle threads to prevent galvanic corrosion between steel and aluminum.


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## dh1 (Aug 28, 2004)

Cheers! said:


> I disagree. As a avid classic car restorer and hobby mechanic as well as a mechanical engineer I can tell you the hammer tapping the wrench method is much better than leverage. When you use the hammer method you are impacting the seized threads much like what an impact driver does. .


I disagree. While I am not a mechanical engineer, I do all of my own mechanical car work and have restored 3 cars. While I have never had a bike part stuck like this, I have always had better luck loosening stuck fasteners with PB blaster, heat, and leverage. PB Blaster is one of the greatest inventions in penetrating lubricants (IMHO). I have used PB to break parts free that liquid wrench and heat wouldn't help.

Hammering a wrench won't work that well unless you have the best hand tools available. Any wrenches short of professional grade will flex too much when you hammer on them. Most of your mechanical advantage from the hammering will be wasted on bouncing the wrench like a springboard. If you wish to try hammering, take a galvanized pipe and slip it over the wrench handle to use as a makeshift breaker bar, apply leverage, now hammer on the lever close to the head of the wrench. An impact wrench applies torque and impact force at the same time.

FWIW, I noticed in the OP notes that this is a 2007 GF? If I just bought this bike within the last year, my LBS would fix this stuck pedal free of charge or replace the whole crank. A stuck pedal is an indication of sloppy assembly work or neglect (rust). Since the bike is a year old, I would say the bike shop didn't apply anti-sieze to the pedal threads.


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## BassFearMe (Jun 21, 2007)

alright guys.. i finally taken care of the problem. thank you all for the advice.

what i end up doing is taking the crankarm off and had my friend weld a 5ft, i think (didnt feel like cutting it) square steel tube/bar to the pedal peg. and was able to budge it (had a loud crack sound).. now everything is fine. thanks for all your help.

even my buddy was stumped at how much involved it was to break that pedal loose. we tried a small 2ft round bar welded to the peg but the bar's weld broke off the pedal. so with the longer square bar he welded it good.. i should have taken a pic. oh well.

so we now get to ride!!! yes!11.. and this time i made sure to but a good amount of anti-seize on teh thread. thanks you all again for the help!!!


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## Kristatos (Oct 15, 2007)

Cool, glad it worked out. If it's nice and dry maybe I'll see you out there this weekend!


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## BassFearMe (Jun 21, 2007)

yeah it worked out great. went riding out today at Otay Lakes (if you are firmilar, its in chula vista) with my buddie from the east coast. boy was it muddy. it was the first time i ever put my bike through the mud. pretty cool. we treked along the otherside of Otay Lakes. found some cool spots where there was a nice tall opened hillside and rode down that, crossed a few creeks and went to the other side of the damn.

its good to be back riding.


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