Installing new tapered steering head bearings and headlamp nacelle mounting

These new tapered steering head bearings should be a standard upgrade on any Slash Two that still has ball bearings in the head stock.

I removed the bearings and races in a previous blog post. Now we are installing the new bearings. 

Tap the bearing races home with a suitable drift and heavy mallet. 

Removing the old races from the nut isn't a problem if you....

Stack the assembly on a 22mm socket.

Then place a 41mm socket on top and tap with a plastic mallet.

Even though the new bearings came greased. I like to thoroughly clean them with solvent and run them in my fingers to check for smoothness. 

Then I grease the bearings in my trusty bearing packer.  Compared to a royal sized mess packing using your fingers, this method only makes a medium sized mess!!

Tap down the inner race on the fork using a brass drift.  Tap only on the inner race and go evenly around to ensure it settles in evenly.

Press the other bearing inner into the cap nut using a vice.

Arrange some support for the fork and front suspension assembly.

Locate the fork in the head stock.

Spin on the nut and cap assembly and tighten down past the point of snugness.  You want to settle the bearings, then back off to the point where the play is eliminated.  Go back and forth a few times to make sure you have it right. You want to snug it up just to the point where the play is eliminated.

When you put the upper fork plate on, check the clearance provided by the old spacer. It may have changed with the new bearings. If so, get a different spacer, or add spacers. You want the plate to settle evenly on the outer fork uppers and the inner nut cap.  You don't want the plate to bend when you tighten down on center nut.

Now we'll mount the head lamp nacelle. Place a piece of rubber hose about 3/8" long in the hole.

Arrangement order: outer washer, rubber washer, headlamp ear, rubber washer, headlamp shell.