Coming in a bit late on this but I took my front tire off today and then remembered to get this measurement. One side was 21 9/16" and the other was 21 13/16". Probably worth noting that I do have a bit of a fork seal leak on the side that was longer but I assume they should be the same measurement. Would you recommend just going with the 21 9/16" when I put them back on?

 

I'm certainly no expert, just learning as I go. But I think it's not that relevant that the tops are the same, but the bottoms need to be. My plan is to take a stab at setting ride height with one fork, then tighten the trees. Then run the axle through both, make sure it's even, straight, not binding at all, then tighten the second fork. The axle is where alignment is critical.

But that method is just my gut feeling... Maybe an actual expert will chime in!

 

I don't know what the measurement from the factory is off hand. I also do my measurements in millimeters. I find it easier to work with then fractions of inches. My measurement was 559mm. I don't remember if this was factory measurement or not. I changed to longer shocks and I con't remember if I made an adjustment to the front end ride height or not. One thing to note is I have access to a computrack machine which helps determine the optimal geometry for my bike. I may have made changes a few years ago when I did the rear.

This is how we set front ends. It can be a little tricky with the split clamp on some of these bikes as opposed to the pinch on others but it can be done. Just get it closed enough to hold the axle in line but still be able to rotate it.

 

Why not just torque the axle and then loosen one set of tree clamps and let the tube find its own home. Maybe tap it on the side with a plastic mallet to help overcome any binding/friction.

 

The weight of the top tube could add to the free sag on one side. Then you would end up with slightly uneven sides. What you're trying to do is have the forks at full extension without the wheel when you align them. You can do it without the axle by measuring and setting both sides the same I just find it's easier to make small adjustments with the axle instead of a tape measure and moving the tubes up and down. I'm talking like a mm or two.

 

How about this ….. Install fork legs in trees , set at the height you have decided on using a Vernier caliper , trying to get them equal . put the cap on the right fork leg , loose but not too loose , you know nuts run on there but not tightened , slip the axle in and see if you can rotate it with your fingers

 

Some of you guys are way over thinking an easy process of setting forks in the triples. It takes me a couple of minutes from start to end and most of the time is getting the first side exactly where I want it.

 

I just set them the same. Without a huge spring tester anything else is guesswork anyway. I get far more concerned about axle spacers and slider/tube parallelism.

 

Spent way too much time today working on this project on my bike. I know it's a dif set up (07 fxdb) but hate to start a new thread when people are already talking here. I cannot get the seat bolts on the bottom of my forks loose. Tried with a ratchet and snipe. Tried with a small electric impact. Bought a new impact but haven't tried it yet because of not reading packing on the sockets right. Wrong drive and the store closed. I'm nervous about hitting them with the impact because I've seen threads where guys say they rounded out the allen head. Any advice?

 

I'm assuming you mean the bolt that comes up from the bottom of the fork slider. Mine is different from yours, and they came out without using an impact wrench. I was able to crack them open with the right hex bit on a breaker bar. But most instructions and tutorials I've followed suggested using an electric impact driver to begin with. I can see two potential issues removing these bolts, and I'm not sure which you're struggling with (and maybe they aren't both applicable with your forks). Can you not move the bolt, or is the whole assembly spinning inside the fork? Whoever you proceed, take care to make sure you're using a high quality bit of the exact right size. On my bike, those bolts require an 8mm metric hex bit. cramming in an "almost good" standard bit is probably a bad idea... Not saying you're doing this, just to be careful!