Wayne wrote:

I need to install two tapered bearing races in a steering head.
First off let me say that with a few exceptions I hate dealing
with pressed in parts. Last time I had to do this I failed
miserably and took it down to the dealer.
I could order the 'special tool' to install them ($).
But now since I have a lathe maybe I should just make them.
From the manual description both races get installed at
the same time. I'd need 2 round disks/cones with holes in the
center. A threaded rod (got some 1/2 13) would draw them
together and pull in the races. There is a small flat area
before the taper starts.

Do I make a disk which just catches the flat area or do
I make a cone that fits into the taper? The dwg in the
manual doesn't look like a cone, but it look like it
has 2 diameters.

Is aluminum sufficient for the parts? I don't have any
steel that size. I'd probably only have to do this a
few times.

Thanks,
Wayne D.

I'd use aluminum or brass.

Make a pair of top hat shaped pushers, with a hole to suit the
readyrod you have.

Make the skinny part of the "hat" to fit the ID of the narrow end of
the race, with a couple thou clearance, and the "brim" just a few thou
less than the OD of the race.

If you can put a heatgun to the steering head, it might make things a
bit easier, but the bearings should not be a really tight fit, more of a
snug one.

Freezing the races can shrink them a bit, if you wanted to muck about
with that, but all the ones I have done were done without heat/cold
added to the mix.

Bike?

Cheers
Trevor Jones