Steering stem re-assembly

hans737 · Post by **hans737** » Mon Mar 21, 2016 10:10 am

A few years back I rebuilt a 1967 CA78. The sreering stem ball bearings looked good but the races looked a bit rough. At that time (still the case, I expect) there were no tapered bearings made to retro-fit so I cleaned up the races and put it all back together. At that time I wasn't sure of torque settings for the stem nuts so mostly did it by feel. In the original dis-assembly the steering nut was extremely tight and difficult to remove. When I re-assembled it I didn't tighten it to that point but still felt it was fairly snug. There was a noticeable "dead spot" in the movement of the stem but I thought it was slight enough that may not be so bad once everything was back on. That turned out to not be the case. The dead spot was very noticeable and made riding a bit sporty. It steered smooth on either side of center but steering through center there was a large hiccup. Fast forward 4 years, I've finally tracked down all new races and the dust seal and found the time to take it all back apart to do the job right. New races are all pressed in and I'm ready for re-assembly again. I'm hoping someone can fill me in on any pointers for assembly including torque specs. One other bike I did had an initial high torque setting then loosening the nut and re torquing it to a much lower torque for final setting...not sure if there's anything like that involved here so would sure appreciate any and all guidance.

G-Man · Post by **G-Man** » Mon Mar 21, 2016 11:49 am

Put the bike on the stand and just tighten by hand until there is no play when you pull and push on the forks.

If you tighten too hard the balls will dimple the races getting you back to where you are now.

G

hans737 · Post by **hans737** » Fri Mar 25, 2016 9:55 am

G-Man wrote:
If you tighten too hard the balls will dimple the races getting you back to where you are now.

G

Thank you G-Man. That is exactly what I did last time. Before taking it apart the steering was smooth, now I can actually see the dimples in the old races.
--Marty