HOW TO REMOVE A STUCK SEAT POST

[Rat Rod]

I recently did some trading with member IB57 and ended up with an 81 Panda 24" BMX cruiser.

I went to tear it down and ran into the dreaded seized up seat post.

My first attempt involved a set of big Vice Grips and a big hammer. The seat post didn't budge a bit...and I was hitting HARD too. :shock:

Next I started spraying some penetrating oil down the seat tube hoping it would loosen things up a bit. Tried the Vice Grips later on in the day and nothing.

Did a bit of searching online and saw all kinds of approaches from using dry ice and a torch to some dangerous chemicals to cutting it out with a sawzall.

Then I stumbled upon someone's suggestion of clamping a BMX stem around the seat post down near the seat tube and then attaching some forks onto the stem for leverage.

Sure enough....tried that approach, took the frame out in the grass and set the frame on its rear drop outs, held onto the bike's forks and then stepped down on the fork/stem combo and it broke the bond immediately and after a little wiggling it slid right out.

 

[Markm]

SWEET!!!

 

[kingfish254]

Brilliant way to get excellent leverage without crushing or marring the seatpost with visegrips and pipe wrenches.
Thanks for sharing!

 

[IB57]

Great idea, I'm glad it came loose!
Thanks for sharing, I'm sure it will come in handy.

 

[enbro]

Cool! I'm having this same problem!!

 

[KJV]

the frame still inline? :arrow:
seems this method would
twist it some. :|

 

[Lead Sled]

Winner winner chicken dinner...! Love it.

 

[Charles]

That is one great save that requires no special tools!
My Windsor "brewers bike" had such a stuck post.
But it also had a stuck seat which gave me leverage like you achieved with the fork.
Ended up takin two of us to wrestle that post free but finally moved... we got lucky.
I'll remember this one.

Thanks
Charles

 

[Rat Rod]

the frame still inline? :arrow:
seems this method would
twist it some. :|

The funny thing is, with the extra leverage, I didn't have to push that hard on it to get it to break free.

Spraying the penetrating oil down the seat tube all day also may have helped a little.

 

[KJV]

cool.i will need to try this next time. :idea:

 

[coloradodave]

Wish I would have read this 2 weeks ago, I got mine out with penetrating oil, vice grips, heat from a torch and a long bar for leverage, came out without hurting the 1959 Schwinn frame but the seat post is destroyed.

 

[Meeba]

Great tip. Thank you. Now i do not have to drill a hole and jam a big screwdriver in it, then buy a new post to peplace the one i just destroyed

 

[kngtmat]

I tried to do that last year with one of the two stems I had and didn't care about breaking it wouldn't fit around my Murray Monterey's original seat post.

 

[user 135]

Added to the How To Manual.

I had a stuck seatpost that would not work with the tech. I ended up drilling a hole into the headtube of a junk frame. Next drill hole in the seatpost, then bolt together and twist.

 

[Fahrrad]

Ok, I know this is on Sheldon Browns site, but his directions for removing a seat tube did not make sense to me. Does any one have any pictures of how his directiions work? Or another option other than Sheldon's or Rat Rod's. Any help would be greatly appriciated. I have been spraying PB blaser on mine for a month (every couple of days) now and i still can not get it to move. The bike has some really nice patina and I dont want to to use a torch or other destructive method if possible(note I am not worried about the seat tube, it can be destroyed, but I would like to keep ther tube where it goes in tackt). Any ideas would be greatly appriciated.

 

[udallcustombikes]

Well this method failed me in a bad way. I am tearing down a 50's Hawthorne ladies cruiser for one of my powder coater's customers. The seat post was stuck with just a few inches available to grab. I soaked the post from the top and bottom with PB Blaster for a couple days before I even tried to move it. After attaching the stem and using my 3' cheater bar instead of a pair of forks I proceeded to see it it would budge. Nothing at first so I applied some heat. Within a couple minutes of torquing on the seat post I felt a little movement. I gave it a little more strength and then it happened. The seat post twisted apart just below the top of the seat tube. :x :x :x

Now I have the frame upside down in my stand. I taped the top of the seat tube closed and filled the seat tube with a 50/50 mix of ATF and acetone. I read a post on here that quoted a magazine article that said that mixture was a better rust buster than any thing off the shelf. Tomorrow I will drain it out and see if I can drive the seat post down into the seat tube and out of the way. Guess we will see what happens. :?

 

[Rat Rod]

I used this technique because I'm not crazy about using the chemicals that Sheldon Brown's site recommended.

Also, when I went to apply pressure to turn it, it broke loose pretty easily.

This was also an alloy seat post inside of a chromoly frame.

 

[Charles]

This post had probably been stuck for 45 years

Charles 7
Seatpost 0

This was a particularly tough one that put off a lot of heat during removal. Would NOT have been able to get post out without this fix!
Thanks RATRODBIKES

 

[blackdiamond]

I will have to try this on my AMF project :mrgreen:

 

[Wildcat]

The seatpost on my 53 Schwinn has been stuck for as long as I've had it, over 30 years. It may have bever been adjusted since new. I've use bench vices, pipe wrenches, and penetrating oil over the years, no luck. I'll try this method when I get home. Then I can add the laid back post finally.