Square Taper BB - Best Practice to stop Creaking

[stevec1975]

What do people do to stop creaking/squeaking on Square Taper Cranks

I am fitting some Middleburn RS3's to a Hope Ti BB which from what I remeber when last fitted, creaked like a creaky thing ( I currently have it fitted to a UN72 BB and it creaks on there too)

The tapers appear v good, although they seem to have a few bits of non crank metal (o.e slivers of ti axle?) embedded in them..

Do you:
A) Put copper grease on both surfaces
B) Do it dry(?!)
C) Put ptfe tape on
D) Lightly sand both mating surfaces and use normal grease
E) Use Shimano steel bolts instead of lightweight Ti Ones?

Or any combination of the 5!

 

[legrandefromage]

before you try anything - make sure the BB is done up properly. BBs tends to creak before cranks do.

 

[mikesnowdon]

I'll be using a sq taper Hope Ti BB with XC-Duo cranks soon. Will keep an eye out for good ideas in this thread.

By the way, when I have had squeaky creaky cranks in the past I found simply cleaning and greasing the tapers did the trick. But, I have heard that hope Ti BB's are prone to creaking noises. I would suggest greasing the threads and the inside face of the non driveside cup.

 

[FluffyChicken]

If you grease the tapers you are just hiding the problem (if it fixes the squeak), it'll still be rubbing and wearing just with extra lube :roll:.


Shimano and possibly Hope may be squeaking in the actual 'cups' (for want of a better word) where they hit the bearings/cartridge casing, i.e. the plastic/Alu screw part on shimano sealed jobs.

Try taking of the Alu/Plastic caps cleaning them (even the stuck on side for shimano) and add a touch of grease there.

But first try different bolts, just in case it's rubbing there.

 

[MikeD]

You need anti-sieze on the titanium spindle otherwise it'll just gall up and won't tighten properly. Ditto the Ti bolts. I'd be tempted to use steel bolts - Ti into Ti is a bit of a double nastiness whammy, really. Do them up really tight.

Or use a UN71 ;-)

 

[cornholio's RC200]

Be sure that it's not something else causing the creak before you start greasing up bb tapers (not so good IMHO).

I've put my Orange through the wringer just recently trying to get a creak sorted. Here's a list of what I did (one by one):

Removed BB and regreased threads, regreased crank bolts, chainring bolts, seatpost, seat clamp (worked on my Kona...) and pedal springs (SPD). Checked the seat (yes that can creak too) before finally removing the cleats out of my shoes, copaslipping the bolts and replacing. Result - No creak!

In short :roll: - there's lots of things that can cause creaks. Don't risk trashing nice cranks for what could be no gain.

 

[MikeD]

You won't break a crank by lubricating the BB tapers. If it gives way when you tighten it up, it was already broken.

 

[cornholio's RC200]

You won't break a crank by lubricating the BB tapers. If it gives way when you tighten it up, it was already broken.

That's true but you might distort the inside taper on the cranks potentially meaning that next time you want to fit it, the crank could stop against the taper end meaning that you can't tighten it. Let it go loose for a ride and find that you can't use it again.

 

[elite504]

Cartridge bearing BBs creak. Not BB cartridges a la shimano, but ones using individual sealed bearings. Unless the design is great, most designs dictate the cup is screwed on over the bearing doing one of two things, excessively sideloading the bearingm, seriously shortening its life (no a plastic tube with o-rings on it doesn't qualify as a support bush), or they go together smooth and sweet, and the bearings just fret in the cup causing the creaking. The tolerances for precision fits (i mean real precision fits), and can be knocked out of tolerance with thick ano coatings etc etc. All this means BBs with sealed (cart) bearings usually creak, either lunched bearings, or bearings to cup and or spindle. If you take it apart you can usually see fretting witnesses where surfaces have rubbed.
I use a lightweight BB on many of my bikes, and generally they creak and crack under load. C'est la vie.
Best of all in my experiance ar cooks BBs. Crazy design, looks bad on paper, but actually works pretty well. .

 

[perry]

but you might distort the inside taper on the cranks

Only if you have a spanner habit and keep over tightening . Step away from the 8mm spanner

If the bolt has loosened then only retighten as much as need be to a reasonable torque . Don't think " oh it's come loose , I'll add some more tightness so it doesn't come loose again "

Crank bolts should be loctite in place .

The creak could be a multitude of things , have you checked the pedals ?