Krate Springer Alignment

[cruisin_on_my_schwinn]

I would take the fork apart and set the legs next to each other and put bolts, rods threw the top holes and in the pivot holes. clamp it to a flat surface and see how far off the fork legs are at the axle point. Bending it back would not require that tool the bike shop has, just a pipe that will slide over the legs using it as a lever. I'm betting it's bent at the pivot point.

As always GT knows what the hell he's talking about. Check these out, I know they are for the Old Style Springer Fork but I think should give you an idea of how to straighten them.

 

[cruisin_on_my_schwinn]

I don't think the forks are bent at the pivot bolt hole. The pivot bolt area is actually the strongest point of the springer forks imo. I don't know if anyone else besides me knows this but when the fork legs were made, Schwinn actually added an insert inside the fork legs where the pivot bolt goes thru. It extends about 1 1/2 inches below the pivot bolt hole. I don't know how far above the bolt hole it extends to. The reason I know about insert is because about 3 month ago a buddy got his son a 5 speed Krate that needed paint, so he went custom made his own Blueberry Krate, since his son has a twin sister he decided to get her a girls Krate as well. Since they never made one, he built his own 5 Speed Girls Grape Krate out of a 3 speed slick chick or fair lady I can't remember which. Since the girls bike has longer headtube, not only would he need a longer steering tube but the section from the S Bolt hole to pivot bolt hole would also have to be longer so he bought two springer forks, a 24" fork and a 26" fork. Then he cut them both up and sliced a fork together to fit his girls Krate. Anyways when he showed me bike, I asked him how he got fork, he told me what he did and showed me the left over pieces. Anyways here are said pieces

 

[cruisin_on_my_schwinn]

He said the 26" springer has the same insert, but since the upper section of the 26" springer is what he needed to make his forks I don't have a picture of those.

 

[GTs58]

He said the 26" springer has the same insert, but since the upper section of the 26" springer is what he needed to make his forks I don't have a picture of those.

If you've had a bent blade fork you'll notice the leg is usually bent way up at the crown. Since the springer fork leg is locked in place at the pivot bolt that would be the most likely place the leg will get bent under force. If that area is reinforced for a short distance, then the bend will start in that area.

 

[Schwinn Sales West]

You guys are moving right to the cutting torch, when maybe some sandpaper would take care of the issue. ALWAYS check the most common problems, or easiest to fix things FIRST before you assume something major is wrong. Yes, IF THE LEG IS BENT, IT NEEDS TO BE ALIGNED.

A Schwinn spring fork leg (any of the three different lengths) is a very strong part. They do not easily bend unless some yahoo thought he was riding a "chopper" and rode the bike without the truss rods installed. The YOKE is simply the very first thing to check on any Schwinn spring fork alignment issue. It's VERY EASY to twist the handle bars and the front wheel being held stationary in say a bicycle rack, the very first thing to bend (even before the rim) will be the S.F. YOKE. It can be off by a lot. and still "not look" tweaked.

Check the Yoke First, then proceed to tearing down the fork legs to check "all three holes" on a flat plate.

Remember, the old guy rule, Band-Aids first, then stiches and staples, and amputations are a last resort. Check the easy stuff first.

John

 

[cruisin_on_my_schwinn]

You guys are moving right to the cutting torch, when maybe some sandpaper would take care of the issue. ALWAYS check the most common problems, or easiest to fix things FIRST before you assume something major is wrong. Yes, IF THE LEG IS BENT, IT NEEDS TO BE ALIGNED.

A Schwinn spring fork leg (any of the three different lengths) is a very strong part. They do not easily bend unless some yahoo thought he was riding a "chopper" and rode the bike without the truss rods installed. The YOKE is simply the very first thing to check on any Schwinn spring fork alignment issue. It's VERY EASY to twist the handle bars and the front wheel being held stationary in say a bicycle rack, the very first thing to bend (even before the rim) will be the S.F. YOKE. It can be off by a lot. and still "not look" tweaked.

Check the Yoke First, then proceed to tearing down the fork legs to check "all three holes" on a flat plate.

Remember, the old guy rule, Band-Aids first, then stiches and staples, and amputations are a last resort. Check the easy stuff first.

John

Did Schwinn have a set of instructions like the ones I posted above about how to make a gage for the New Style Springer forks

 

[cruisin_on_my_schwinn]

If you've had a bent blade fork you'll notice the leg is usually bent way up at the crown. Since the springer fork leg is locked in place at the pivot bolt that would be the most likely place the leg will get bent under force. If that area is reinforced for a short distance, then the bend will start in that area.

Hey GT did you notice the instructions I posted above gives the measurements for a 26" fork, a 24" fork and the last set of measurements are not labeled. Would those be for a 20" old style springer? I've heard many ppl make claims there were 20" old style forks but have never shown any proof they really did exist.

 

[Schwinn Sales West]

Did Schwinn have a set of instructions like the ones I posted above about how to make a gage for the New Style Springer forks

I have never seen anything anywhere other than what you already posted, sorry.

I would not call it a gauge (it never was a tool you could buy), more of a diagram of where the alignment points are located. Body guys use alignment charts like that to do frame alignment on crashed vehicles. In our shop we built and did frame repairs and had a frame table. It was a three for square Blanchard ground flat plate that you could bolt a frame to. We also had a fork fixture. These frame tools are more important in diagnosing exactly where, and how far out it is bent. You can hold and bend the fork many different ways "after" you figure out how far out, and exactly "where" it is bent.

The easy fix is to remove the yoke first, and the holes in the top of the fork should still be in perfect alignment when the front wheel is installed. If everything is in alignment "without the yoke" you found your problem. If the top of the legs are still out of alignment, you have to tear it down and make more measurements.

John

 

[Hoagie57]

No that is not what you just said! A truss rod is not a fork leg. 🫤

Main truss rods 1 or maybe both are bent... very hard getting them both the same without marking or denting up the chrome. Also, if you don't get both just right meaning 99% the same then the smaller truss rods won't fit correctly either.
Ebay buy? << RETURN IT!!

OMG we need a Medic
Gezz calm down, don't need to stroke out about it teach. Same thing just different wording. I'll sharpen my pencil next time or better let you just teach us all about everything. lmao WOW so sensitive block letters and all that.

 

[GTs58]

OMG we need a Medic
Gezz calm down, don't need to stroke out about it teach. Same thing just different wording. I'll sharpen my pencil next time or better let you just teach us all about everything. lmao WOW so sensitive block letters and all that.

OMG knowing the name of a certain part is step number one. i’m not a mind reader.😜