CL77 fork assembly

[gopher]

I'm trying to assemble my front fork. I put the lower fork together first. I'm trying to slide the fork tube into the triple tree. As I try to pound the triple tree onto the fork tube, the suspension absorbs the blow and I'm just not getting anywhere!
To open up the triple tree clamp, I reversed the bolt that clamps the tree to the fork and put a small piece of metal in the slot. As I tighten the bolt up it slightly expands the clamp but not enough that the triple tree just slides over the fork tube.
The triple tree clamps are slightly elliptical, about .5mm out of round. Do I just need to protect the new paint on the triple tree clamp and get out a bigger hammer? Anyone have a good idea on how to do this?

[rustywrench]

Try a large screwdriver tapped into the slot to open the tree enough to let the tube in. Sounds a bit hoakie maybe but it should work if ya don't get carried away with the hammer. RW

[davomoto]

Also, make sure there's no paint in the inner part of the triple where the tube slides in. I like to clean it up with sanpaper, and apply some lube to ease the process.

davomoto

[jleewebb]

On my bike I got a little carried away I guess when pounding a cold chisel into the slot to open up that clamp. When I went to be sure it would go together, luckily before painting, I discovered the round part had gotten a little egg shaped, and the more I opened up the slot, the more egg shaped it got. I did have to use a pretty good sized hammer, and carefully pick the right place to pound, to get it back to something like round but eventually succeeded. Good luck. --Lee

[gopher]

I tried all of your suggestions. Nothing seemed to work. I was trying to put one fork leg on at a time. The triple tree was ever so slightly out of line when I did this. It just would not smoothly go down on the fork tube. I hammered and hammered and no progress. Then I slipped the triple tree over both fork legs at the same time and effortlessly the triple tree slid down onto the fork tubes. It was simply a matter of aligning the triple tree clamps square to the fork tube. When this was done a very, very gentle tap of the hammer slid the clamp past where I wanted it rest. It was amazing how easy it was once the parts were aligned. Thank you all for your advice.

[rustywrench]

Gopher
In all my years as a wrench it never ceases to amaze me when the most stubborn of all problems fall into place so easily. File that one away for future endeavors and thank you for the follow up with your resolve. Nice to hear the good news too. RW