Steering Head Tapered Roller Bearing Tutorial

I just changed out my steering head bearings and thought it would be nice to have a short tutorial on the process. The tapered roller bearings are the only way to go in my opinion. Once done you will never have to change them again. It will take a few hours to do if the front end needs to be disassembled, but is simple enough for the beginner to do. It is about safety so enjoy.



First I used a handle for a floor jack to remove the cups



Here is a pic of the tapered roller bearings. The larger one goes to the bottom.



The top one will end up being flush with the frame, and the bottom one will go all the way in until it stops I used a block of wood to get them in then I used a wooden dowel on the bottom to get it all the way in

Here is the bottom one driven all the way home


And the top one is flush


Removing the lower race from the stem




When you put the lower bearing on the stem it is tight, what I did was use a large crescent wrench and opened the jaws so I could catch the inside of the bearing then taped it on with a hammer. "DO NOT" use the outer part of the bearing while tapping with a hammer you will destroy the bearing

And finally the lower bearing installed on the stem with a liberal coat of grease, waiting to be installed into the frame.




All in all it took about 30 minutes to do. Keep in mind my bike was torn down to the frame at the time so it may take a little bit longer if you have to remove the fork tubes and all that is connected. It is well worth the money spent to know it is done and all is good when done. Good Luck[/quote]

Thanks for the tutorial. Will be ordering the bearings soon, but may hold off installing them until I have the frame powder coated.

Outstanding.... Share the wealth of knowledge!

PDf this and stick it in the File Data Base...

OMR

Old Man Rock wrote:

Outstanding.... Share the wealth of knowledge!

PDf this and stick it in the File Data Base...

OMR

And just how do I PDF this to add to the filebase?

How about I do it for you and post it under your name.... Probably easier than trying to explain it.... :laugh:

Dave

All done...

File database: Non Specific...

kzrider.com/index.php?option=com_docman&...d&gid=459&Itemid=108

OMR

Thanks Rock

You da man