Pre-war springer assembly, adjustment

[GearheadJim]

I'm working on a pre-war springer front end, came to me mostly in pieces. I have a couple of questions on how all the parts go together, hoping someone can help.

1 - There are two bolts that connect the top of the fork legs and top of the strut bars to the spring holder. I know the bolts are correct as they have a square shoulder under the head that locks them into the spring holder. I have a couple of washers that I have not been able to identify where on the bike they go. The mystery washers fit these bolts but if I use the washers (bolt into spring holder then top of the fork leg, top of the strut bar, washer, nut) the nut has too many unused threads. Without the washers the end of the bolt sits very nearly flush with the top of the nut. I'm thinking no washers here, can anyone confirm?

2 - The spring bolt has a barrel with a conical end that I believe goes against the spring then a lock nut. I currently have spring bolt through the spring holder, through the spring then the barrel, lock nut, then threaded bracket that attaches the spring bolt to the neck, then a rounded nut. The mystery washers fit the spring bolt, does one of those washers maybe go between the lock nut and the threaded bracket that attaches the spring bolt to the neck?

3 - As I have it currently assembled/adjusted, the threaded bracket that attaches the spring bolt to the neck is not sitting flush against the top head bearing cone which does not seem right. I think the barrel and lock nut on the spring bolt are used for setting the pre-load on the spring not necessarily used for adjusting the angle of the spring bolt to the threaded bracket which attaches to the neck. Is there a proper procedure for adjusting the angle of the spring bolt to get the threaded bracket to sit flush against the top head bearing cone?

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

 

[B607]

What a mess!

No washers on either the carriage bolts or the main bolt. Your washers might have gone on the front axle. There is also a thin washer under the nut on the crossbolt.

The "spring holder" is called the yoke. The top or your truss rods should fit inside the edge of the yoke. Either you have a washer in there or your truss rods are upside down. ???

The carriage bolts (square shoulder) should have AS stamped on the head. If they do, you know they are the correct length bolts. If not, they've been replaced and may be too long or short. There should be just enough room to fit the nut between the truss rod and the spring. The AS bolts are fine thread and are easy to crossthread.

You have the conical nut on the main bolt in the wrong place. You should put the conical nut on the main bolt before you put it through the spring. You adjust the nut so that when you tighten the main bolt it pulls the spring tight against the bracket. Doing that should square your head bracket with the adjustable cone.

Also, do you have the steering tube on the right direction? That's the part that comes up through the head that the legs attach to. The crossbolt goes toward the rear of the frame. Gary

 

[GearheadJim]

I think I've got it now.

My carriage bolts are correct, they do have the AS on the heads.

I did not have the washer under the nut on the thru bolt, don't have one that fits there so I'm digging through my stash of old hardware looking for a correctly sized, adequately rusty washer.

The top of my truss rods are inside the yoke, just not flush with the edge, no washers. I don't think they are upside down, both ends are the same thickness and both are shaped the same. The way I determined side to side and top or bottom was based on two factors: 1 - There are drain holes where the ends are crimped flat, I have the drain holes facing in which seemed more aesthetically correct. 2 - The bends on the end of the truss rods seemed to line up best where the top is yoke, fork end, truss rod and the bottom is hub, fork end, truss rod (kind of goes inside (top) out (bottom)).

I think I've got the assembly order of the main bolt, would like to confirm: locking nut, conical barrel with cone facing spring (I'm calling it a barrel because it does not have any flat sides like a nut), spring, bracket.

 

[B607]

That looks better. Did that square the bracket with the adjustable cone? If you are real lucky, the legs on your fork are nice and straight and your bike will track straight down the road. My prewar springer has slightly bent legs and it tracks off to one side. I haven't been brave enough to try bending the legs and haven't found anyone that knows how to do it. Keep us posted of your progress! Gary