Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Rebuilding MKS Grip King Pedals

The left pedal on the DumVee was starting to click more and more, driving me to distraction.  While purchasing a chain for the MTB, I mentioned the clicking to Jim at HCHQ.  He suggested that I pry the dust cap off and squirt some grease in it.  I went home with a plan...

After prying off the end cap, I saw that there was a nut, a slotted washer and a cone -- all of which were accessible and easily removed.  This allowed me to completely disassemble the pedal, save the bearing (which were in good condition) and clean and re-grease the whole thing.  Here is a picture of the tools I used and the parts when the pedal is disassembled:



After cleaning everything, I put a good squirt of grease in the crank arm side of the pedal and put 12 bearings in, covering them with grease.  I then took the end cap and put it on, slotted side pointing away from the crank arm like this:

I then slid the pedal on, squirted another good shot of grease into the race and replaced the bearings. Covering the bearings with yet some more grease, I screwed on the cone until the pedal ground just slightly since it will loosen up when I ride it.  Sliding on the washer and tightening the nut so that the pedal turned and putting the dust cap back on completed the task. 

It rides without noise now and I have found another reason to buy the good stuff: you can fix it.  Woo-hoo!  Success.

Of course there is a little tragedy in every victory, and in this case I was said victim.  I drained the degreaser into a soda can I had next to me in order to easily retrieve the bearings.  Later that evening whilst cleaning up, I gathered up all the cans (Mrs. Yam had cleaned out the car) and I shook one of them, noticing that there was a swallow left in my soda.

That's not Diet Coke...

I spewed citrus degreaser so hard the dog jumped and started barking.  But, no lasting damage as my taste buds are finally functioning perfectly this morning.  Citrus degreaser doesn't taste like orange juice.  Just sayin'.

2 comments:

Snak Shak said...

Nasty. Congrats on the pedal, however.

Snakebite said...

I wonder how it is with vodka.