cotter pins

[roadrash]

I recently bought , and have just used for the first time , a ball joint splitter to remove my cotter pins, how easy was that,

, i usually use the vice and socket method but never again . a 15 min soak in plusgas and the ball joint splitter took them out with no effort at all

 

[Chris S]

You can use a G-clamp and a socket as well. Put the socket over one end of the pin and then the G-clamp on it and the other end.

 

[roadrash]

You can use a G-clamp and a socket as well. Put the socket over one end of the pin and then the G-clamp on it and the other end.

i have used a vice and socket previously

 

[raleighnut]

Big hammer and hit it like you mean it.

 

[Rusty Nails]

Big hammer and hit it like you mean it.

I've ruined many a cotter pin that way as well.

 

[Oldhippy]

Center punch works every time

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Many many years ago I tried to remove the cotter pins from my bike
My mate was helping - we did his first
My bike was probably 8 years old by then - never been removed

and never were

damn things never did come out

someone nicked it about 10 years later - still hadn;t managed to get them out



as an aside - my Dad was RAF Ground Crew during WW2
so they were all gievn bikes to get around the airfield - and - just possibly - to get to the nearest town and its pub and dance place - if required (he was a bit evesive about that part - but did mention a 'girl' a few times when we were on a trip without my Mum)


anyway - apparently the received wisdom on receiving a new RAF bike was to get new cotter pins
then put the new ones in and scrap the standard ones as they were rubbish
or so he said
how an airfield with a fully equiped workshop with access to good grades of steel got good quality cotter pins was apparently not relevant

 

[Twilkes]

what is a cotter pin

 

[Paulus]

what is a cotter pin

It is a method of attaching the cranks to axle, generally on older bikes before Square taper cranks came along.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PAIR-OF-...2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

 

[yello]

@roadrash You get a 'like' for simply mentioning them.

Cotter pins..... haven't thought of them in ages

 

[raleighnut]

It is a method of attaching the cranks to axle, generally on older bikes before Square taper cranks came along.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PAIR-OF-...2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

Raleigh were still using them in the mid 80's on the 3 speeds

 

[figbat]

I bent the cotter pins hammering them out of my Elswick-Hopper Cosmopolitan 🙁. Also worth stating that they should really be pressed in as well, rather than just tightening the nut to pull them in.

 

[Twilkes]

It is a method of attaching the cranks to axle, generally on older bikes before Square taper cranks came along.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PAIR-OF-...2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

Ah okay, a bit like a slide rule then, thanks.

 

[classic33]

It is a method of attaching the cranks to axle, generally on older bikes before Square taper cranks came along.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PAIR-OF-...2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

Don't they hold the cranks in position on the cranks?

 

[rogerzilla]

The hammer method usually works if the pins had any grease on them when fitted. Loosen the nut but don't remove it completely: this stops the head mushrooming, which puts you into a world of pain.

I have never had trouble removing 1960s original cotter pins on rusty Moultons, but a 1980s rust-free Raleigh defeated me on one side and I had to buy a new LH crank and BB. Raleigh evidently fitted them with no grease,but with extreme force.