Seized no More!
As some of you know, last summer I popped a few spokes on my MTB wheels. This is not a big deal as they were about the appropriate age to be dying. I went to replace the third spoke that broke and just by checking the tension on the surrounding spokes another one broke in my hands… I thought this seemed like a sign that either the wheels needed rebuilt or replaced. So I went into the bike shop and got talked into a much more expensive set of wheels that should last longer, go faster, weigh less, etc…
I asked them to move the cassette (the thing with all the gears) to the new wheel. No problem right, it takes 2 tools a chain whip and a lockring remover. Well, they tried and the lockring was seized on the cassette something fierce. The guy actually bent one of their tools trying to get it loose. The end result was I upgraded to the XT cassette and took my old wheel home with a partially worn cassette.
Recently I ordered some more specialized bike tools (the Park AK-37 tool kit) and started trying to take the seized lockring off myself. I made little progress, so I started with the basics.
1. Soak it in WD-40 every time I’m in the garage for a few weeks.
result: nothing
2. I realized I had an impact wrench and could probably get more break loose force with it, so I tried it.
result: a slightly scratched lockring tool
3. While putting the snow tires on our car I discovered that the regulator on the air compressor was still set to 60 PSI from blowing out the sprinklers… there is hope I thought, maybe the full 105 PSI will be enough.
result: nothing
4. I bought a propane torch at Wal-Mart for $12.
result: a torch sitting in the garage waiting for sometime when I wanted to smoke up the garage.
5. I finally got around to trying the torch a few weeks later and heating the seized bolt up hot and then hit it with the full 100PSI of the impact wrench (it’s a cheap tool that probably puts out about 100ft-lbs of torque).
result: lots of smoke from the WD-40 that was all over the cassette
Disclaimer: don’t do this it’s probably dangerous…
6. One final tip from one site… heat the thing up as hot as you can get it (it’s steel so no fear of doing any real damage with a propane torch) and then hit it with WD-40 to see if the cooling process will suck the oil into the threads.
result: lots and lots of smoke and flash boiling WD-40. I do not recommend anyone trying this, it was probably dangerous and toxic. Furthermore as the smoke from the flash boiling WD-40 passed over the torch some of it caused nifty looking orange flames around the blue flame. I should have been further away from the torch. If I do this again I’ll wear safety googles and be more conscious of open flames.
7. Shortly after filling the garage with smoke (yes the big door was open) I put the impact wrench to the very hot cassette and the lockring came loose!!! Success, the seized nut came loose!
Next step, rebuild the wheel… this will require a dishing tool, a truing stand, new spokes, and a lot of patience 