[TeKon]

Is it possible to replace the steer tube on my Rock Shox? The front shocks were previously installed in an older smaller bike, now I want to put them into a bigger bike of mine but the steer tube doesnt have enough clearence. The tube itself is 6.5" while the neck on my bike is 5.5" and which the bearings I have very little room to work with. Ive thought:

a) Press out the steer tube on my Rock Shox, and fab a new longer one and press that one in or

b) Grind the neck on my bike shorter (not much room to work with, may only gain a 1/4"


I work in a machine shop so either solutions in my mind will work, and I have the tools available. Im just worried about pressing out the steer tube as I dont want to damage the forks in anyway. To get it out the shocks will compress. Should I fully dis-assemble the shocks before attempting (a) ?

Also would cooling the steer tube with dry ice be beneficial before attempting to press it out?

 

[ultraNoob]

Neither A or B are recommended. The steerer tubes are a one time install per crown only. If you try to press it out and install a fresh tube, you can seriously risk a massive failure. Grinding your frame is just ghetto. You could risk bearing and/or frame integrity

All you can do in this case is either buy a new lower crown with a fresh steerer tube, find a used one which fits your needs, or find a used fork and scavenge the parts you need. Hope this helps.

 

[ultraNoob]

oh yea.... Welcome to the Monkey

 

[DownCycles_Stef]

You also didn't mention what fork it was or if it's a Single or Dual crown. Dual crown forks make the process a bit easier as you just buy a fresh lower crown with an uncut steerer. If you have a single crown fork, you can send it back to RockShox and they can press in a new steerer (don't do it yourself, the specs and tolerances are very tight and unless you know what they are it won't matter whether or not you work in a machine shop), or send you a new crown/steerer/stanchtion assembly. If they send you the latter, you will have to rebuild your fork.

 

[ultraNoob]

oh, my bad, I was already assuming dual crown