1960 Schwinn Tornado Headset Bearing

[ebasnett]

I was riding my ‘60 Schwinn Tornado on Galveston Island and started noticing the steering had gotten really sloppy. I took it apart and realized I’m missing two balls out of the lower caged bearing and one ball out of the upper bearing.

The cups and races look good so I was going to just degrease, clean, replace the bearings and grease it all back up- but I can’t find a parts list for this bike and I have no idea what the parts numbers for the bearings are.

Does anyone know the part numbers for the headset bearings on this thing?

 

[Rivnut]

Send me some dimensions and some pictures and I’ll send you what you need If I have them. A friend of mines dad died and left him a whole garage full of crank and head set bearings. Surely in the two big coffee cans full of these , there are the correct ones. These bearings also included races and cups.
Ed

 

[ebasnett]

I finally found a part number- 2572.

 

[coasterbrakejunkie1969]

I was riding my ‘60 Schwinn Tornado on Galveston Island and started noticed the steering was really sloppy. I took it apart and realized I’m missing two balls out of the lower caged bearing and one ball out of the upper bearing.

The cups and races look good so I was going to just degrease, clean, replace the bearings and grease it all back up- but ican’t find a parts list for this bike and I have no idea what the parts numbers for the bearings are.

Does anyone know the part numbers for the headset bearings on this thing?






View attachment 1673657View attachment 1673656

That looks like regular Schwinn headset not the deluxe with 2 different bearings.

Schwinn Bicycle Older #2557A Headset Bearing - 1 Pair of 2 - Used | eBay

Schwinn Bicycle Older #2557A Headset Bearing.

www.ebay.com

 

[Rivnut]

Here’s what I have (a bunch of)

Do you need just the one, or a pair. I have complete headsets as well; let me know. If this is what you need send me a PM for mailing details, etc.

 

[ebasnett]

I think I’ve figured it out- 2572 is a 3/16” x 15 bearing with one difference- the “flat tange.” If you compare it to a regular 3/16” x 15 bearing it appears that the 2572 has a cage that is a bit flatter. It looks like the cage is slightly squished compared to most bearings.

In the 1960 catalog this headset bearing shows up only on the men’s and ladies’ Tornados. I don’t know what makes the Tornado headset different.

I know this is not the most exciting post, but I thought I’d put it out there for the next person stumped by what to do about chasing down 2572 bearings. According to one seller online, 2572 size bearings were used in some Japanese-made BMX bikes.

I found NOS examples of the 2572 bearing on eBay but from my research it looks like the Sunlite #65 was created as a replacement which makes me think there’s something to the “common in BMX bikes” story because I doubt Sunlite tooled up to make replacement headset bearings for the Tornado- Schwinn’s cheapest middleweight.

 

[Rivnut]

2572 is called a head bearing set. A set would include everthing from the bottom race up through the top nut. Heres a picture of an aftermarket set,

and an illustration from a Schwinn repair manual showing how the “stack” is assembled. No part numbers are given but you need be aware that around 1968 the diameters of the head tube and fork changed so the diameter of the bearing cage also changed.

 

[coasterbrakejunkie1969]

1968 the diameters of the head tube and fork changed so the diameter of the bearing cage also changed.

The steerer tube increased in thickness in '65/;66 and only the interior dimension changed as the tubes were made thicker. The outside size of the tubes stayed the same. The bearing cage did not change in size. There is however 2 different sizes on the older deluxe headsets with the top bearing being smaller.

 

[ebasnett]

2572 is called a head bearing set. A set would include everthing from the bottom race up through the top nut. Heres a picture of an aftermarket set,
View attachment 1673918
and an illustration from a Schwinn repair manual showing how the “stack” is assembled. No part numbers are given but you need be aware that around 1968 the diameters of the head tube and fork changed so the diameter of the bearing cage also changed.

View attachment 1673919

Think I'm going to have to hit you up for some "coffee can" parts. Even if I don't need them now, I love to have surplus parts on hand!

 

[Rivnut]

I’ve found that out that you can’t mix and match stems and the top nuts. The big stems won’t go through the nut or the stems don’t fill the nut. There’s an excellent source for all of this stuff.. Schwinn did an excellent job of describing all of this in its repair manuals. Great thing for us is that those two volumes are here on the Cabe. They’re pinned into the ECT forum under Restoration Tips. Well worth the time it takes to peruse them. Schwinn must have expected owners of other makes to bring their bikes in for repair. There are pages dedicated to lots of different makes of coaster brakes. I found info on repairing my Elgin air cooled rear hub built by Musselman in the instructions on brakes. There are instructions on wheel building, derailers, fork straightening, and other good stuff.