# fixing a bad steer tube



## 37fleetwood (Feb 25, 2014)

You know how John always makes posts that start with "making a ..." well, I can't manufacture stuff here, so I have to fix what I have.
I thought I would make a thread about the steps I took in fixing this Huffman springer. the procedure should be about the same for any fork.

first thing, did you know that a piece of handlebar will fit snugly in a steer tube and makes a perfect way to align your parts perfectly.

first photo a shot of the old 10 speed handle bar I've used a few times before.






cut off a little bit using a tubing cutter.








I used an old bent fork for the donor pieces.





when you use a tubing cutter you get a nice straight cut, but it rolls a little metal into the opening that you have to remove.





next I used my little drill press vise to press the piece of handlebar into the new steer tube. if you don't have a vise like this you can use a regular vise, or a piece of 2x4 and a hammer (don't hit it too hard or you'll damage the threads)





we're getting to rthe part where we're going to use fire! always be prepared and have a bucket of dihydrogen monoxide handy.





here's the steer tube we need to fix. it looks good, until you put it on the bike. you can see what's left of the keyway. it's just about 1/4" too short.





make sure before you cut that you have the proper measurement, in this case approx 6 3/8".





after measuring cut the steertube just like the other, and clean out the burr inside so everything slides together. make sure to get the clocking right so your keyway is in the right position.


----------



## 37fleetwood (Feb 25, 2014)

ok, too hard to take photos while welding, but I used my oxy-aceteline rig and small welding rod.





a little bit of finish work later...








the final test is seeing if the stem still fits, and it does!


----------



## HIGGINSFOREVER (Feb 25, 2014)

Looks good and what did it take,couple of hours


----------



## 37fleetwood (Feb 25, 2014)

HIGGINSFOREVER said:


> Looks good and what did it take,couple of hours




yeah, probably an hour and a half of "no hurry" type effort.


----------



## 37fleetwood (Feb 25, 2014)

sorry the phots are all turned and stuff, I usually upload them and make the post and then go back and turn them right side up, but the new CABE upgrade saves the photos and stores them locally, so I rotated mine but nothing happened. I even tried to edit the post with no success.
so make a note, make sure everything's how you want it before you post, 'cause once this site grabs them it's all over but the cryin! 

(never mind, figured it out. you have to delete the files from photo bucket and re-upload them so they have a different name and then you can replace them. if you don't, it just keeps the saved one no matter what you do to the one on photo bucket)


----------



## Iverider (Feb 25, 2014)

Nicely done! I saw a video of a similar repair but the guy drilled a few holes in the steerer tube to plug weld to the inner sleeve.


----------



## 37fleetwood (Feb 25, 2014)

Krautwaggen said:


> Nicely done! I saw a video of a similar repair but the guy drilled a few holes in the steerer tube to plug weld to the inner sleeve.




I should mention the sleeve isn't there for strength, it's main purpose is to hold things straight. when you weld it you have to make sure you get it hot enough to really weld the two tubes together. if it were possible to remove the sleeve, it should be as strong as it ever was, it's welded all of the way through.


----------



## RustyK (Feb 26, 2014)

Nice Job! Love it when things are saved.


----------



## fat tire trader (Feb 27, 2014)

Another method which I have used in the past is to drill the old steerer tube out of the fork crown and braze a brand new chrome moly steerer tube in its place.


----------

