I have never worked on a trike like yours, but it appears from the photos that the way your front end works is that you tighten the collar (most people use a punch &
if the correct tool isn't available) and then snug the nut above the top of the tree down against the washer and bend a tab against whichever side of the nut is closest to a good fit. If that's the case I suggest the following:
- Raise the front of the trike in the air on something secure, a couple jack stands under the foot pegs might work, you want the rear solidly on the ground if possible.
- Grab the front end as low as possible, by the axle is best, and try to rock the front back and forth. If what you've said so far is true you should feel a little play in the bearings.
- Loosen the large nut above the collar
- With a
and small blunt punch tap the collar tighter. Every few millimeters stop, grab the axle and try to rotate the steeling bearings left and right
- If they still feel very smooth, or loose stop and tighten the collar more. You are trying to get the bearings to feel tight, but not so much that you damage them
- If they are tapered bearings I usually beat on them pretty hard to make sure the races are set, but if you have loose ball bearings in grooved washers its not a good idea to over tighten them at all. All you would want to do is get the grease squeezed out of the contact points and snug the bearing enough that you now feel resistance when rotating them
- Odds once you get them tight the resistance you feel will be a little erratic and not exactly the same throughout the rotation, this is normal
- Now you want to gently tap the collar counter clockwise (loosen it) just enough that the tight spots felt when rotating the steering head are gone. You can even leave it tight enough that there are one or two spots where you can feel just the slightest resistance. You would not do this on a road racing bike, but on a trike it won't do anything but make the bearing wear out a little sooner, so in 20 years and not 30
- Now tighten the nut that sits above the locking washer to whatever torque the manual calls for. If you don't know what that is try 15#
- Check that the bearings still feel as smooth as they did before you tightened the nut. There should be no change. Rock it back and forth at the axle to make sure there is no play
- Lift the most suitable edge of the lock washer up with a flat head screwdriver and then tap it up against the nut to lock it
Check the bearings one last time and you should be good to go.
I should mention, this only applies if you changed the bearings AND the seats. If all you did was put new bearings in old seats this is all out the window. You will not be able to get rid of the play unless you over tighten the bearings a lot, particularity if you have the ball and cap style noose balls type set-up and it will always feel rough. Best to replace all components when doing this.
Good luck
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Originally Posted by fabiodriven
