Raleigh crank cotters question

[RWright]

I have a 1976 Raleigh Sports. It has cotter cranks and one of them is loose and right at 12 o'clock it will make clunk sound as it slips when reapplying pressure to it. I have looked to see how to replace it but I was wondering if it would be feasible to try (as a temporary fix) and hammer the cotter in farther rather than replace it. This would be temporary just so I could ride it until I get my 1974 Raleigh LTD 3 back together. I am hoping this will only be two or three weeks but you never know.

 

[mrandmrspoves]

Yes, as a temporary fix this may work - but you are likely to find the cotter works its way loose again quite quickly.
If you do try this as a temporary fix, it is worth putting an extra washer under the tightening nut to try and hold it in place better.

 

[RWright]

Thanks. I will give it a shot.

 

[tyred]

I would replace the pins, they're not expensive.

But definitely hammer it into place. Problems arise with these as people mis-understand how they work. They need to be pressed or hammered into place and the only purpose the nut serves is to keep them in place once they've been installed.

Without a press, installation would go as follows - tighten nut, hammer the other end, tighten nut again, hammer again, tighten nut again, repeat until nut stops coming loose.

Don't ride with a loose crank as it will get damaged.