jscobey

So after doing the RC frot end swap my steering stem lock nuts keep coming loose. So then my top bearing rises up a bit and the whole front end is shakey. This has happened like 3 times in the past 2 weeks, then I disassemble it and put it all back together. I'm using all ***** tapered bearings. What am I doing wrong? Anyone have a similes expierience

E.Marquez

You have the adjuster nut on top of the top bearing snugged up with a bit of preload?
The top triple clamp on top of that?
Then the lock nut tightened down?

And it's still coming loose?

jscobey

the nut with the collar on it which is right on top of the bering, what do u mean preload? and then yes the lock washer but i cant get the bottom washer and the top one to line up when the top nut is tight so i cant get the little flanges on the washer to match up. and then the top triple is snug against that so idk whats going on?

98VTRrider

There should be a plastic/rubber spacer between the two lock/jam nuts. Allows you to tighten the top nut with some resistance so it won't loosen, then a metal piece should fit on to hold the nuts together. Hope that helps

Check a parts fiche to be sure you have the correct parts and in the correct order.

comedo

Maybe all you need is a new lock washer. I don't know about the lock washer on RC51's but in the case of the VTR the lock washer is slightly convex when new. It flattens and eventually loses its springiness once installed. What that means practically is that if you're reusing a lock washer the tabs in the lock washer may not line up with the indentations in the adjusting nuts once the bottom adjusting nut has been tightened enough to take the play out of the bearings and the top adjusting nut is snug. What a fresh lock washer does is allow you to rotate the top adjusting nut until the indentations in the grooves of both nuts line up with corresponding tabs on the lock washer. The top adjusting nut doesn't have to be really tight, only snug. Its purpose as I understand it is to insulate the torque applied to the nut on top of the upper triple clamp from the torque used on the lower adjusting nut to take the play out of the steering head bearings.

Tweety

The solution is dead simple... Back the second lock nut off, until the washers tabs fit into the slots... It has no purpose what-so-ever in terms of being torqued down... First nut torques to a set torque, the second you thread on with your hand essentially, and then bend the tabs to lock it in place... then add the triple, and torque the nut to specified torque...

Ie, just what comedo said, but in simpler terms... It's not supposed to be torqued... It's supposed to be held in place by the tabs... That's the reason for it wandering, and taking the top nut with it...

jscobey

[QUOTE=98VTRrider;367573]There should be a plastic/rubber spacer between the two lock/jam nuts. Allows you to tighten the top nut with some resistance so it won't loosen, then a metal piece should fit on to hold the nuts together. Hope that helps
/QUOTE]

on the RC51 front end, above the dust seal is the first nut which has a collar attatched to it, then theres a lock washer with little tabs on it, then the top nut and above that goes the triple clamp. so im not sure what the plastic/rubber piece in the middle or the the metal piece that holds the nuts together is. i checked the parts fiche for the stock VTR front end and also the RC51 and both only the the parts i mentioned. but it could be possible that i need the new lock waser so if this happens again ill order a new one along with new nuts


i took everything apart last night and put it all back together so this is the 3rd or 4th time ive done that. could this be happeing because of the new bearing races settling? i was reading in a thread i found on here that someone was having a similar problem and people were saying the bearing races settled and then you had to adjust and then they settled again and you had to readjust?

anyways i made sure the tabs were lined up on the lock washer with both nuts last night when i re did it so then hopefully that corrects the issue.

jscobey

Does anyone know which spanner is the right one for the lock nuts on the stem? I'm referring to the ones in the OEM tool kit. There's two spanners but I think the large one is for the rear Shock.