Raleigh Union pedal Rebuilding?

[Aaron65]

I have what looks to be original pedals on my '72 Raleigh, the ones that are not conventionally rebuildable. I've read a few ideas online, and mine are clattery like the bearings are loose, so I'd like to give it a shot. Any ideas? They look pretty cool, so I hope I can just put some new ball bearings in there by grinding out the rivets.

 

[juvela]

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Have always wondered about the vendor for these.

How were you able to determine it to be Unon Frondenberg?

One servicing suggestion I have seen on another forum is to drill a small hole in the dustcap and use a grease pump/gun to pump white lithium grease in.

Grease and dirt will begin exiting at the pedal threads end.

When the white grease begins to come out clean you are done.

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[Aaron65]

They just say "Made in Germany" on them and have a logo of what looks like a standing man. From my limited research, it seems like Union made the pedals for these, but I have no conclusive evidence of that.

 

[Roger Henning]

I looks like the pedal cap is 2 parts so you can probably take that cap off and adjust the bearings. Roger

 

[Andrew Gorman]

I agree with Roger- try and pry that end cap off. You could have a rebuildable pedal. German parts have a well deserved reputation for being over built. If the parts are peened in place there is usually not a good way to put them back together. The aerosol white grease has worked well for me. I've been able to work enough in from the crank arm end to avoid drilling a hole in the dust cap.

 

[Aaron65]

I disassembled and greased these pedals yesterday, and there is no cap to remove nor any means of adjustment; everything is simply riveted together. I ground off the rivet heads, cleaned the pedal blocks with soap and a brush, dipped the rest in carburetor cleaner, and rinsed it with water before greasing the bearings with marine grease. Then, I used five-inch long 10-24 screws and nylock nuts from Fastenal to reassemble everything; I don't like the size of the nuts, but I wanted to ensure that nothing would come apart. Thinner nuts would look better, and you could probably use Loctite or something to hold it together. I did have to cut the bolts to length once everything was assembled. Unfortunately, since there is effectively no adjustment on the bearings, they are still a little loose. I thought I'd leave this here in case anyone ever has a reason to take a similar pedal apart.

 

[TR6SC]

I disassembled and greased these pedals yesterday, and there is no cap to remove nor any means of adjustment; everything is simply riveted together. I ground off the rivet heads, cleaned the pedal blocks with soap and a brush, dipped the rest in carburetor cleaner, and rinsed it with water before greasing the bearings with marine grease. Then, I used five-inch long 10-24 screws and nylock nuts from Fastenal to reassemble everything; I don't like the size of the nuts, but I wanted to ensure that nothing would come apart. Thinner nuts would look better, and you could probably use Loctite or something to hold it together. I did have to cut the bolts to length once everything was assembled. Unfortunately, since there is effectively no adjustment on the bearings, they are still a little loose. I thought I'd leave this here in case anyone ever has a reason to take a similar pedal apart.

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How about a foto of the outer end of the spindle? What holds the cone in place?

 

[Aaron65]

I forgot to take a picture of that, but it's basically a peened rivet.

 

[juvela]

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Thanks so much for the fine job with the explanation and photos.

Had long wondered regarding the internals on these...

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