[Drakken_11]

I am in the middle of refurbishing a bike. I want to take the pedals apart for some much needed cleaning. Any advice?? They are normal pedals. Nothing fancy. One day I will go clipless but for now....
Can I use Lithium Grease to lubricate them???

 

[AZ]

Lithium is fine , water proof synthetic is better . Locktite 242 on the spindle nuts .

 

[Drakken_11]

Spindle Nuts??? Do you mean the nut inside the pedal that holds the bearings onto the post??

 

[tihsepa]

Spindle Nuts??? Do you mean the nut inside the pedal that holds the bearings onto the post??

Thats what he means.

 

[WTF-IDK]

Spindle Nuts??? Do you mean the nut inside the pedal that holds the bearings onto the post??

yes
put blue loctite on the nuts that hole the bearings together.
do NOT put loctite on the spindle were it goes into the crank arm.

 

[Drakken_11]

Can I buy a small tube of it at Advance Auto or some place like that? I don't want to buy alot of it and then it goe to waste.

 

[AZ]

Yes , it comes in small tubes .

 

[Drakken_11]

Ok, so I gave it a shot. I didn't do the Loctite this time. (figured I can ga back and do that later.
1st off - The ball bearings were slightly magnetized. Does that tell anyone anything??? Was there not enough grease in there and the friction magnetized them or do they come like that??? Either way it was like hearding cats!
2nd - I may be missing some balls (hehe). When I took them out there was an odd # of them. Does one side hold more than the other???

I put them back together and they seemed to have a lighter spin, but felt "notchy".

 

[gmcttr]

In general, bearings feel "notchy" when things are too tight. Maybe try backing the nut off a little. Think in terms of 1/4 turn at a time.

 

[Drakken_11]

Ok, got it. I'll give it a try. I was trying to be careful about overtighteing. I was just afraid of the pedals wabbling or the bearings coming out.