Fuel EXe near new trek EXe with loose cranks creaking.

[Cyclopath1000]

i have been working on riding off the seat. today a creak that sort of started earlier this week ramped up. when i got back to my RV i checked the crank bolts and both were loose. i’ve seen on the mega thread issues with preparation of these bikes especially bearing and other moving parts poorly assembled. i’ll see how long it takes for these crank bolts to loosen again and i guess i’ll first blue loctite them before i move up to red. have others found the same issue?

 

[ohiomoto]

My EXe has creaked since I got it earlier this year. In the beginning, it only creaked while pedaling while standing but it got worse with time. I fixed it by tightening the front chainring. To accomplish this you need to remove the driveside crank arm with an ISIS crank arm removal tool and then tighten the chainring with an ISIS bottom bracket tool.

 

[Cyclopath1000]

are you saying tighten the item i have the screw driver pointing to? i see it says tighten to 50 NM as a reverse thread.

 

[ohiomoto]

Yes.

 

[keeganxt]

I'm curious about what bolts the OP was referring to. I see the 8mm allen in the drive side crank. We're both the outer crank caps loose? I just checked mine chasing down a the creak and I had to use a breaker to get the 8mm drive side crank cover bolt looks. New bike, so that was to be expected.

 

[keeganxt]

Got the 20tooth tool today for the lock ring. The thing was finger tight. So tightened that and also realized the builder misaligned the cranks on the motor spindle, so fixed that. I'll ride this afternoon to see if the combo of that and tightening the one motor mount bolt will fix the creak.

 

[ohiomoto]

i’ll see how long it takes for these crank bolts to loosen again and i guess i’ll first blue loctite them before i move up to red. have others found the same issue?

I'm not a professional mechanic, and I don't work for TQ or Trek do proceed with caution.

I DO NOT recommend Loctite because I'm pretty sure these are greased from the factory. (At least mine was and every other crank bolt I've ever dealt with.) You could void warranties or cause damage to the TQ motor BB.

 

[ohiomoto]

Got the 20tooth tool today for the lock ring. The thing was finger tight. So tightened that and also realized the builder misaligned the cranks on the motor spindle, so fixed that. I'll ride this afternoon to see if the combo of that and tightening the one motor mount bolt will fix the creak.

Good luck. Fingers crossed you resolved your issues.

 

[keeganxt]

Bingo, just got the cranks back on and aligned. Definitely the barely tightened lock ring for the crank.