I replaced my pedals and one of them is loose. It seems like I may have stripped some threads in the crank arm removing the last pedal. Wondering what I can do about this? Can I buy a pedal with at thicker gauge or do I need to buy a new crank arm?
by Ijustwantbikepants
7 Comments
Potentially a shop could helicoil, but might be easier to replace.
If your sure you got the right pedal for the side (left n right threaded differently) then a helicoil or a crank switch are the options available.
A helicoil is a new bit of thread scewed into the crank. Then the pedal goes onto that. Bike shops offer this service.
A crank replacement is the more expensive way and kinda a waste.
But first check if you got the right pedals on the right side. And the left on left.
You need to either replace the crank or tap out the threads to the next size up helicoil. The nondrive side crank is reverse threaded so for that you would need a specific bike threaded helicoil. For the drive side a standard 9/16 x 20tpi helicoil should work.
Edit: also just to double check, does one pedal fit and the other is loose or are they both loose?. There are two sizes of pedals, 9/16″ and 1/2″. Pedals with 1/2″ sizing are more rare, usually only on beach cruisers and kids bikes (maybe bmx too?) but they will not fit in a crank that takes normal 9/16 pedals without an adapter.
New cranks bro
Which means the threading of the crank arm is gone, changing pedals won’t help.
Replacing the crank arm, or a temporary fix with a strong metal epoxy or something like that.
Helicoil it with a 9/16 x 20 right hand thread tap. Or replace crank arm.
Pedal threads are typically flanged which will prevent overtorquing and stripping of the threads, so it’s not likely that you stripped them.
Are you installing 1/2″ pedals on a 9/16″ crank?
Also, is that a belt-drive?