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Bottom bracket..too much tapping?

924 Views 2 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  Dougal
Hello all,
I have just bought a new front steel frame.When installing BB external bearings I found too much force to make it so I decided to clean and tap the threads. I have my own tapping tool. ( nice one, but not park tool quality) .I 'm afraid that I did the tapping too much and now I feel a side to side play when you are inserting by hand the shimano external bearing onto the BB..Its a tiny play and when the bearing is threaded all the way to right torque everything is ok and feel secure but before threading it hard over the BB face,, you can really feel that play :also the bearing can be threaded by hand all the way without any force.All that means that I ruined the BB threads, making them too thin and now frame is messed up? Hope not..its a really nice new steel frame..
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If the tool is indeed the right thread for BB tapping, then you can't do it 'too much'. It will clean and chase the thread until it is the right size.

What you may have done in the initial installation is remove a little of the material of the BB thread, making it very easy to thread on now. As there is perhaps less friction b/w frame and cups than is normal, I would use some light thread lock to make sure they don't back out in use. As you said yourself, once tightened to spec they are OK, and that is the only way they should run anyhow.

If in doubt, try another BB to see if it is indeed the frame which is at 'fault', a good bike shop should also be able to help.
You're fine.
Threads always have clearance in them, they rely on pulling the faces up tightly together when the cups are torqued in to lock them in place.
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