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SRAM Apex crank bolt creaking

5K views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  Love Commander 
#1 ·
After a few weeks of trial and error, I think I've figured out the reason for my excessive BB creaking to be the tension bolt on the non-drive side crank arm on my Apex crankset. I have to torque it down past the recommended spec, but it quiets down when I do. Then I'll ride for a while and it'll get bad again. Rinse and repeat.

So, first, I'm curious to see if anyone else has had similar problems on SRAM cranks. I've put thousands of miles on a Rival crankset with no problem. Do I maybe have a lemon?

Second, I probably can't do this for long before I damage something. It doesn't seem like the bolt is loosening all that much when I ride, but I am having to apply increasing amounts of torque to get it to quiet down. Should I clean the threads and apply some blue locktite and see if that works? Also, visually, I don't see any evidence of galling on the bolt threads, but I can smell that metallic scent I've come to associate with galled threads (please don't ask me how I've learned that smell).

Third, is there any chance I'm treating a symptom and missing the real problem? I've uninstalled the BB (GXP), cleaned all threads, regreased and installed; checked pedals; checked chainring bolts; checked rear wheel QR and feel confident that I've eliminated those as a source of the noise. When I do the above, it'll be quite for a ride, then start creaking like before about halfway through the next ride. That's when I discovered that putting more torque on the NDS bolt worked.

All installations have been per SRAM specs, using a beam torque wrench.

Thanks.
 
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#3 ·
I finally got it in the stand last night before a ride and decreased and loctite'd the NDS crank bolt. It was pleasant and noise-free for about the first 20 minutes of the ride then the creaking came back with a vengeance.

Not sure what to do at this point. My memory is a bit hazy, but I think I might have way over-torqued the bolt when I installed the crankset on this bike last year. All I remember is that it felt like I put a LOT more force into getting to the torque spec, so I'm beginning to suspect that I either misread the torque spec or misread the value on the torque wrench (beam-type wrench, can be easy to misread if you're sorta dimwitted and looking at it upside down). All the noise started after rebuilding it this spring after a season of racing and then a winter of messy rides. I'm worried that maybe the bolt, hence the crank, is toast since I initially over-tightened it. Any ideas what I should try next before calling this thing a loss? I have a FSA Gossamer compact I can throw on there if I get a new BB.

I'm also thinking this might be a good reason to get a drive click torque wrench.
 
#4 · (Edited)
Yes, I had the same issue on my SRAM Apex GXP. However, in my case the non-drive-side bolt was noticeably loose (I could just stick my finger in it and turn it either way). I had to tighten it back once. I also re-tightened both crank bolts and the creaking issue went away.

Note that in GXP cranksets that side-bolt is not a load-bearing component. It is only used temporarily to hold crank in place before the real load-bearing bolts in the crank itself are properly tightened. Once the bolts in the crank are tight, this side bolt is nothing more than a dust cap (which also doubles as crank extractor in some models).

In other words, you should check your crank bolts first. Make sure those bolts are tightened properly. It might be a good idea to remove, clean and reinstall the non-drive-side crank from scratch.
 
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