We're they greased at at..... Rust in a few months.... Makes you wonder

 

Ok, I really need some advice. I replaced the bearings back in January. Installed original ones bought from the dealer and used marine grease on them for the installation. I did everything myself this time. Cleaned all the parts, left them rust free, lubed everything and greased everything with CRC marine grease.

My steering started to make clicking sounds while turning or while braking again after two or three months of perfect performance.

I thought there might be rust again, so I took it a part today and noticed they have no trace of rust. They aren’t even dirty. They are actually shinny as if new install.

On the installation I tightened the star nut really tight, but applied no lock tight on it. Should I have done so? I didn’t try to do the adjustment on the manual, I just tightened it put the handle bars on and felt it was just a little over how it felt new. Little tighter, but after a week it felt great when turning. Did I over tighten the star nut? Does that damage the bearings.

Should I have re tightened it after a month ?

Anyone know part number for the star nut tool, so I can buy my own. And the size of the steering nut to buy the size tool as well

Please advice as this really is the third pair of bearing I will end up throwing out.

I really don’t get this.

There is no local dealer and the local
Harley mechanic did the first two failed attempts which lasted 1 month without making sounds.

 

Did you follow the procedure in the service manual?

The star nut should not be "very tight" and doesn't require any Loctite. It is a preload adjuster and is locked in place by compression from the upper tree and stem nut.. Incorrect preload will cause premature bearing failure.

The preload (aka fall away) will need periodic check and adjustment. Procedure is in the SM.

3 failures would seem to indicate there is another problem but I'm also not confident the installation and adjustment aren't faulty.

 

If preload causes premature failure, it’s the installation procedure and not the bearings. I really don’t get the manual on this. Sorry to ask so much but can you explain it to me. I really want to do this right. I do have the manual but really don’t get the fall away. Factory bearings lasted 5 years without adjustment or maintenance.

 

Tapered bearings require a specific preload. Either too much or too little can cause early failure.

Too little is obvious because it wobbles and clicks.
Too much is harder to determine up front but can result in dented races or cracked rollers.

I agree the fall away procedure is sketchy. I think it is poorly conceived and should be more like old 4 wheel vehicles where you torque to a value and back off a certain number of degrees ... But that's beside the point.

The new bearings may simply need to bed in and may require more frequent adjustment during the early life. It should settle out to a point where they go tens of thousands of miles without adjustment.

Assuming your steering is smooth (not notchy/lumpy/ratchets), I'd suspect that's what up with yours. Try adjusting the preload again (fall away procedure). It shouldn't take much...just a few teeth on the star. Conventional wisdom here is that slightly too much preload is better than slightly too little. Just don't treat it like a normal nut. (Don't just crank it down until ot stops)

 

I have to ask did you replace the bearing race when you did the bearings? Or just the bearings themselves?

If you didn’t do the races that might be your problem

 

 

I just use a screwdriver and mallet for the star nut. Nothing special about the stem nut. You can get an open stock socket from most any place that sells decent tools.


Don't over think the fall away. All you are doing is setting the preload tension on the bearings so there is light to moderate drag resisting the free "flop" of the forks. They should hold their position from straight ahead to maybe 10 degrees either side before flopping over. That's with the bike in the air and level. The clutch cable alone is enough to screw with the results so some people disconnect all the cables.

 

Hi LAFO...

It's hard to explain how something should 'feel'. I just adjusted mine after 13,500 miles. When I bought it new the steering felt 'snug', at the end of last year it felt really loose.

First off you mention time span, how many miles between these failures are you talking about? You also keep comparing the way it feels to when you first got it. You're having failures so maybe comparing it to what it 'was' isn't the right way to look at it. Then I want to ask if you are greasing the bearings, or are you packing them?

You can test for looseness by having the front wheel off the ground and gently pulling forward/backward on the forks. (And DON"T pull the bike off the stand! ) If you feel clicking, the rollers are not set tight enough into the race (pre-load).

This how I did mine:

Loosen the top pinch bolts, this allows the the top triple tree to float on the tubes and won't '****' as you turn the star or stem nuts. Loosen the large stem nut so it is away from the surface, don't remove. Use a drift or flat blade screwdriver to tap the star nut, counter clockwise to loosen - clockwise to tighten. Only move the star nut one notch at a time, test the pre-load after each adjustment.

To test, turn the handle bars to straight forward. Tap the front of the tire one way to get the fork to turn by itself to the full stop. This is fall away. Test it in the other direction for the same result. If you tap the wheel to about the half way point between straight and full turn and then it falls the rest of the way itself, you should be good.

Use a torque wrench to tighten the stem (hex) nut to spec, mine is 80 ft-lbs, confirm your value! As I understand it this torque is a critical value. Now retest the fall away as above, if it's like mine, it got tighter. If so loosen the stem nut and loosen the pre-load, repeat as needed.

Re-torque the pinch bolts, mine were 35 ft-lbs for reference. Pull/push on the down tubes to make sure there is no play. Turn the handle bars and make sure there is minimal resistance.

If the steering isn't smooth you may have damaged the bearings, will need new.

That's about the best I can explain it, let us know how you came out. Good luck!

 

Got it...thanks

I guess this time since I tightened the star nut so much I’m
Thinking of taking everything apart and checking all parts are not damadged or deformed.