removing old tapered stem bearings

Wow, so there is some kind of tool. Must have some sort of blade type finger that can get into the seam.

I'd pay a shop to do it if I was down to bare frame. But if the bike is not taken apart, they would charge a lot more.

I should look around for that tool, thanks yggy

hi,

why dont u just take down the front part.. it took me only 30 mins to take it all down, then take the lower stem to a shop for them to fix.. shouldnt take that long..

The stem presses out of the lower clamp. Look at your clamp from the underside. The shop used a hydraulic press. You press the stem shaft out from the top, and then back in from the bottom. The shaft is tapered, so the bearing falls off with just a little movement. Removing/installing the bearing itself is really a 5 minute job with a press.
I picked up a 20 ton floor press on sale from HF for around $150. They have smaller and cheaper) benchtop presses that should get the job done. If you do regular chassis/suspension work (I've also got 3 MX bikes that require annual replacement of several chassis bearings), it's worth it. Otherwise, paying a shop $20 every couple years is the way to go. If your bike shop is to busy, or doesn't want to be bothered, any auto repair shop should have a press.

yggy wrote:

hi,

why dont u just take down the front part.. it took me only 30 mins to take it all down, then take the lower stem to a shop for them to fix.. shouldnt take that long..

I thought we were talking about removing the races from the neck in the frame? If we're talking about the lower race on the tree, then that's not too hard.

How did you remove the tapered races from inside the frame?
On the 550's, there is no lip at all to catch with a drift.