So Saturday ill be replacing these bearings and races.ive read alotta info on this and heres my plan.welding a 1/4 grade 8 bolt to the lower bearing race surface and use a punch to drive the race out.
Quote from: Mike m on May 21, 2018, 06:24:26 PMSo Saturday ill be replacing these bearings and races.ive read alotta info on this and heres my plan.welding a 1/4 grade 8 bolt to the lower bearing race surface and use a punch to drive the race out.
Mike,
Am I missing something here? Why not simply use a long drive punch, from inside the steering head? You can cobble one up from heavy rebar, if you cut or grind the ends flat. A decent little set of large drive punches would not be too expensive, anyway.
Are you going to use ball bearings, or tapered roller bearings? I hear lots of good news, from riders who switched to tapered rollers in the steering head.
There is a "lip" above the lower race that prevents you from getting a punch on the race to knock it out.
Also, the FJ already uses tapered roller bearings in the steeringhead
I read (not sure if on here or on Fakebook) of one cleaver cookie drilling a hole in the the collar that houses the race to punch it out, then reseal the hole with selastic or similer. Sound easier than flipping the frame (or welding upside down) to weld a bolt to the race.
All is a lot easier than using my custon made punch (large scrwe driver with a bit ground out of the end) and flooing the crap out of it and the race. It worked, but required much beer and some creative cussing.
Mark
Type the line, or copy and paste the line below into a Google search, and you'll get all the details. Same method works for any topic that's been covered here a gazillion times over the years.
steering head bearings FJowners.com
Quote from: Mike m on May 21, 2018, 06:24:26 PM
So Saturday ill be replacing these bearings and races.ive read alotta info on this and heres my plan.welding a 1/4 grade 8 bolt to the lower bearing race surface and use a punch to drive the race out.
Wouldn't a dob of weld, at say four of points around the race, do the same thing and allow you to knock it out evenly, working your way around?
Noel
I could not get the race out trying to use a long punch from above. Luckily, Hippie Cane came to the rescue and let me borrow his custom-made removal tool.
If you're into tool collection (who isn't?) Park tool makes a special tool just for this job. It's about 3/4" diameter solid punch but the bottom end is cut and splayed out. You force it up from the bottom of the head stock until the splayed end springs thru the bottom race and clicks back out. Then drive the bottom race out. Reverse course for the top race. Works like magic.
I used a dremel cutting disk (a thin one) and cut thru bearingrace it then fall out.Carful not cutting into frame.
I've seen some FJ's that, due to production tolerances, had absolutely no lip showing at all. Not possible to use a punch. Honestly, the easiest way to get a bearing race out is to use a MIG welder to run a bead all the way around the race. It doesn't have to be a pretty bead, just get some heat into the race. All the way around, but don't burn thru the race into the frame. Once the weld cools, it shrinks the race and it will fall out. Or maybe with some light tapping on the new bead.
When I first read about this, I was skeptical. But I've tried it several times and it really works.
Bill
Not on bottom. Tried it. Welder is correct option. Even a bead part way around works.
Quote from: Urban_Legend on May 21, 2018, 10:13:21 PM
I read (not sure if on here or on Fakebook) of one cleaver cookie drilling a hole in the the collar that houses the race to punch it out, then reseal the hole with selastic or similer. Sound easier than flipping the frame (or welding upside down) to weld a bolt to the race.
All is a lot easier than using my custon made punch (large scrwe driver with a bit ground out of the end) and flooing the crap out of it and the race. It worked, but required much beer and some creative cussing.
Mark
I did this on my previous bike, and it worked, but it drove me nuts thinking about the hole in the neck. It's just not a very elegant solution. Next time I will weld a flat bar across the race.
As Bill said, we usually run a MIG bead on the face of the bearing race about halfway around. Most of the time it simply falls out after it cools without having to punch it out.
Welding a run around the bearing is definitely the way to go if you can weld. Most of the time it just falls out when it has cooled off.
Once the bearing is out, Dremel or die-grind 2 small opposing divots in the steering stem to allow for the use of a bearing punch next time.
Regards, Pete. :good2:
Thanks.I seen one post were a fella drilled 3/16or 7/32 holes to punch the races out.
Quote from: CutterBill on May 22, 2018, 08:03:06 AM
I've seen some FJ's that, due to production tolerances, had absolutely no lip showing at all. Not possible to use a punch.
I guess my 92 is the opposite. I got a long SS rod and had the maintenance guy at work heat it up with an acetylene torch, then I mushroomed the end.
There was just enough exposed that I was able to tap out both top and bottom races. Think I did it in '08 so that's what I think I did... :scratch_one-s_head:
FWIW
I serviced my steering bearings a year ago.Thier was considerable scoring.I could really use help on setting the bearings for the final strreing setting.
I'm gonna make the tool with my plasma cutter.I setthe front end last year like this.front end off the ground and nudged the tire left hoping to see it fall to stop as it did the other direction
Try this again.I'm gonna make the tool to adjust the steering bearings with my plasma cutter.if the front tire falls to the left and right with minimal force and theirs no forward and backward play it'll be ok.check again at next oil change.
Have you verified the torque on the steering stem spanner nut? The Haynes maintenance manual specifies 80ft lbs. There are specific tools designed that allows the use of a standard torque wrench
http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=16863.0 (http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=16863.0)
Fres
Quote from: aviationfred on May 22, 2018, 11:21:16 PM
Have you verified the torque on the steering stem spanner nut? The Haynes maintenance manual specifies 80ft lbs. There are specific tools designed that allows the use of a standard torque wrench
http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=16863.0 (http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=16863.0)
Fres
Whooooaaa!! 80ft/lbs on a tapered bearing?? The load should be next to nothing. That's why it has a lock nut
and a locking tab.
This really is a job
better done by feel than with a tension wrench, especially with the difficulty presented by the FJ head stem and punting on a torque value.
If you are the sort to tighten every nut and bolt on the bike with a tension wrench, fine, but this is one job better done without it.
IMO
Noel
I think at 80 ftlbs the steering may be a wee bit hard to turn! Tighten up to until firm and then back off until the handle bars will turn to full lock with only a small touch and they fall slowly by them selves. Check that there is no back and forth movement at the bottom of the forks and you are good to go. Ride and re-check for fork movement again.
Regards, Pete.
Remember to recheck after several rides. The bearings may actually seat themselves a little after some moderate use. Used to be a big issue with ball bearings, perhaps not so much with roller bearings.
Also is Thier any truth to allowing the weight of the bike to settle then tighten the lower triple bolts and front axle nut.