steering stem bearings 200e

[aldochina]

i replaced my stock bearings with moose tapered bearings, that are supposedly replacements, but i'm having problems getting it back together. It just seems like its not going to work. The steering stem will not come up high enough to get the top plate,washer, and steering stem nut on properly. It is drawn up as far as it will go. It seems like the new dust seal is preventing it from coming up to where it should be. Has anyone ever had this problem? Please help, this was the first piece i tried to put on my fully restored 200e frame, and now i'm discouraged:cry

[The Goat]

yeah...chances are you have a small seal or something left over from the old bearings.

something on mine was on there so long that it seemingly welded itself to the stem

took me an hour to figure that out

[aldochina]

no seal, the only thing i left on from original set up was the bottom most washer on the steering stem. Maybe you dont need it with the new seal? But it dosent seem like that will give me enough to make it right. I will try it without the washer i guess, and see what happens.

[ceaserthethird]

post some pictures , most here freeze their bearings ....

[DeePa]

you would want to heat the bearings to get them to expand in this case.

chances are that the old bottom race is still on the steering stem. They can be a *Edited**Edited**Edited**Edited**Edited* to get off, i use a chisel and just keep on hammering on them. Others have cut them off.

You dont need that washer. You use the bottom dust/grease seal instead.

It should be installed like this

Lower Race:

Race in frame
Bearing facing upwards
Dust Seal facing upwards
Steering stem/triple

Upper race:

Dust Seal
Bearing facing downwards
Race facing upwards

[aldochina]

there is definately no race on there, but i will take the washer out. i have all parts for the old bearings they came out pretty easily, and probably did'nt need to be replaced, but i was replacing everything else so i figured what the hell.I might put them back in if i cant figure out what the deal is. Are the inner races on the moose bearings different top and bottom? they looked identicle to me, but i know the lower bearing has a larger inside diameter.

[The Goat]

they are different, just like you said, the lower bearing has a larger internal diameter

[Dirtcrasher]

The best way for all of you guys to deal with the ROTTEN All Balls (Moose is probably just as bad...) directions is this -

Remove all the old junk.

Stack the old upper and lower bearing assembley together, place them side by side and measure the height.

Stack the new upper bearing and lower bearing races and cups and seals in the same manner.

If the old bearing setup is taller than the all balls setup, your gonna need that thick washer underneath. If it's about the same height, then your good to go and don't need the washer.

The only other thing you could screw up is were in that order do you place the washer. Again, look at your stacks of bearings, think about how they work and seal out dirt and water and assemble them in that order.

In the case of the 350X, the thick washer needs to be the 1st thing installed on the stem.

Every model is different.

The All balls kits are not a thing you just want to slap together without thinking about it or you might be buying another one.....

[aldochina]

thanks guys for the input, i think i know what the problem is. i think the bottom inner race is not seated all the way, when i took the old set out the bottom inner race was recessed an 1/8 inch or so, but when i put the new one in it sat flush with the neck. it went in easy until then, so once i hit it good a few times i thought for sure that was it. i can feel a gap though between the race and the seat in the neck so it must go in further. between that and removing the uneeded washer on the bottom and i should be in buisiness. i'll let you know how i make out, and try to post some pics.I'm still pretty green on the computer so it takes me awile to figure things out.

[The Goat]

yeah dirt, i feel, i tapped mine with a hammer...and what do you know, bent bearing.

[aldochina]

i know its been afew days but i just figured out how to post pics so here they are. i used a piece of 1/2 inch threaded rod with a socket that was perfectly sized to suck the bearing up into its seat, had large washer that was bigger than neck diameter, put the rod up through the bottom of the neck with a nut big washer and socket on bottom then a big washer and nut on top used a ratchet to tighten the top nut and sucked it rightup.worked beautious. I have almost every part on this ready to go just got to do the racks and wheels, and eventually the tank but its in decent shape now. i'll probably start a new thread for the rebuild if you guys want to see my progrss.also i need one rear rim for this project, i noticed one has some blob of jbw in the middle so if anyone could help with that it would sweet.