Spaceliner rat trap fork
- Thread starter tuinam
- Start date
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You have to take one of the caps off the end of the bar that runs through the spring and frame of the fork. Then you need something like a screwdriver to drive out the pin. There is tension on the spring. When you put it back together it is much harder to do without scratching the paint. You put the spring in the cut out in the fork and put the bar back through the frame of the fork and spring. It will go about a 1/4 of the way in and get stuck on a angle. You need to pull the spring forward toward the front of the fork and down to line up the other frame hole. I do this with small bar clamps with rubber ends. Then you can tap the bar through the spring and fork frame hole then recap it. I have a rat trap fork apart I can take some pics in the morning to show you how it is done.
pics ! i would love to attempt building a diy one , but never fully understood how the spring mounts
its been a year , i don't think he will post the pics
Here are some pics and how to take the Rat Trap fork apart and put it back together. This is the same for the Spaceliner, Screamer, Eliminator rat trap forks.
First pry the cap off the end of the bar holding the spring to the frame.
Then use a hammer to drive the pin out.
Tap the pin back through spring to get it out and you are done. That is the Easy part.
Now to install the spring in a freshly painted fork and Not break the paint is hard to do. You should practice on the fork before you paint it about 5 times at least. It works best with 2 people. Here are the tools I use.
OK here we go. First put that V bend in the spring through the frame. The spring can move around some so the bolt can go through the center of the spring to the other side.
As you can see the bolt needs to come forward and down to center in the other side frame hole. This is where you use the clamps. One to bring it forward and one to bring it down. I bring it forward first.
Then one clamp to bring it down.
Almost there now. Here is where a second person helps out. You can twist/bend the clamps to move to bolt to line up perfect. Then the other person taps the bolt through while you hold it. I used a bearing cup to help push the spring down. Either way will work.
Put the end caps back on. The original chrome dome caps I could not find. The cap shown is a cheap looking cap. You can find caps a Home Depot that look nice.
Here is a pic of the end caps from Home Depot. I installed the spring on this painted fork with no paint lose.
Sorry for the LONG delay in posting the pics. Hope the info helps.
First pry the cap off the end of the bar holding the spring to the frame.
Then use a hammer to drive the pin out.
Tap the pin back through spring to get it out and you are done. That is the Easy part.
Now to install the spring in a freshly painted fork and Not break the paint is hard to do. You should practice on the fork before you paint it about 5 times at least. It works best with 2 people. Here are the tools I use.
OK here we go. First put that V bend in the spring through the frame. The spring can move around some so the bolt can go through the center of the spring to the other side.
As you can see the bolt needs to come forward and down to center in the other side frame hole. This is where you use the clamps. One to bring it forward and one to bring it down. I bring it forward first.
Then one clamp to bring it down.
Almost there now. Here is where a second person helps out. You can twist/bend the clamps to move to bolt to line up perfect. Then the other person taps the bolt through while you hold it. I used a bearing cup to help push the spring down. Either way will work.
Put the end caps back on. The original chrome dome caps I could not find. The cap shown is a cheap looking cap. You can find caps a Home Depot that look nice.
Here is a pic of the end caps from Home Depot. I installed the spring on this painted fork with no paint lose.
Sorry for the LONG delay in posting the pics. Hope the info helps.
Thanks allot for sharing ! 
