Rant: That one bottom bracket that took me 4 hours to remove

So I had this old Schwinn come into the shop last Tuesday, a 1980s model from a guy in Austin. The bottom bracket was so seized I spent 4 whole hours with a torch, a breaker bar, and even a pipe wrench... finally got it off by soaking it in PB Blaster overnight and using an impact driver. Has anyone else had a stubborn one that made you want to just throw the bike out the window?

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1 Comment

xena_murphy4h ago

idk man, 4 hours sounds like you were being way too careful with it. maybe it's just me but I've had way better luck just going straight to the impact driver with a good six point socket and not messing around with torches and soaking stuff overnight. like, if you're patient with the impact and keep the heat on it from the start, that thing comes off in 20 minutes tops. I mean, I get that older frames can be a pain, but PB Blaster is usually more of a "while you're waiting for the impact to do its thing" kind of helper, not a whole night's soak.