Changed my steering head bearings.... took some pics

[thirdgenlxi]

Yup, finally changed out my steering head bearings today. It was actually alot easier than I thought it would be! I didn't take nearly enough details pics to write up a how-to (sorry!), but I did snap a few along the way. This is the poor mans method, lol... I didn't have any of the "proper" tools (special socket, bearing/race drivers, hydraulic press, stands, etc), so I had to improvise, hahah

Improvision #1... all I had was a rear stand. If I tried to jack the front up with my floor jack under the headers, it would just tip over off the stand (of course I caught it before that actually happened). So I strapped it down to the stand



Then I fiddled with the jack some more and finally found a good balance point on the headers where it would go up straight



Take apart everything up top



Then pull it all out the bottom



Spare parts aside



Improvision #2 - didn't have the bearing race removers, so a long flathead screwdriver and a BFH had to suffice



Improvision #3 - didn't have the race installers, so I used the old races flipped backwards to pound in the new ones. Worked like a champ!

Lower



Upper



It's nice they give you some little indents on both sides to be able to get a screwdriver on the races to pound them out



Old bearings VS new bearings. The OEM ones are roller ball bearings, where as the new ones I'm using are tapered roller bearings from AllBalls





Can't forget the lube!! Put plenty of grease in the new bearings



Improvision #4 - didn't have any bearing drivers, so once again one of the old races fit perfectly to drive it down. I had this piece of pipe, but it wasn't long enough to hit with a hammer (although manual says to use a hydraulic press), so I had to use the weight of the pipe itself as a slide hammer to bang the bearing down



Took a few good smacks, but worked perfectly!



Gotta grease up the new races with plenty of grease too



This is the bearing preload adjuster nut... the one I didn't have the socket for. Usually you could use a screwdriver and hammer, but it must be torqued properly so I needed some way to get a torque wrench on it



Improvision #5 - I made this! It's just the lil spanner wrench that came in my tool kit for the rear shock. I cut a 3/8" square hole in the handle exactly 2 inches from the center point of the adjuster nut



Used the equation (ACTUAL = INDICATED x (WRENCH LENGTH + EXT. LENGTH) / WRENCH LENGTH). Found that my torque values went from 216 in. lbs down to 175 in. lbs. Worked like a champ!



Then reinstall forks



Snug everything up