Tonti Triple Trees

[Scout63]

Any tips for getting fork tubes to slide up into the triple trees?  New upper tubes on G5 lowers and FAC innards. The triple trees are 850 T3, repainted with the inner surfaces taped off and paint free. The tubes just don’t want to fit. I’ve tried gently prying the lower trees open with a large screwdriver in the slot from the bottom. I’ve also tried screwing the clamp bolt in from the front against a metal plate in the slot. I didn’t want to do this too hard as I was worried about stripping the clamp  The tubes fit almost all the way through the bottom and then get hung up.  Heat on the trees?  Some detergent on the tubes?

Thanks.

[1down5up]

Heat - that alloy will expand a reasonable amount

[Bazil]

I've used timber wedges in the triples with success in the past, but try to wedge both top and bottom edges of the clamp; if you only wedge from the bottom the top will not have opened up much. Fiddly but do-able.

good luck !

[cliffrod]

Are these all known parts you've used before or a new combination of parts? 

It's sounds like the new part of the equation are the new fork tubes.  Have you measured them to compare dimensions against old tubes that fit?  Where did they come from?  The deal-breaking interference may be the thickness of the chrome plating on the new tubes.  What's the ID of the clamps when not tightened?  If the clamps are clean and not damaged, you shouldn't need to abuse them to assemble these parts.

[Scout63]

Are these all known parts you've used before or a new combination of parts? 

It's sounds like the new part of the equation are the new fork tubes.  Have you measured them to compare dimensions against old tubes that fit?  Where did they come from?  The deal-breaking interference may be the thickness of the chrome plating on the new tubes.  What's the ID of the clamps when not tightened?  If the clamps are clean and not damaged, you shouldn't need to abuse them to assemble these parts.

I’ll mic the tubes and trees.  It is a new combination as the trees are new/ used.  The fork tubes came new from MG Cycle and fit in my G5 trees.  They don’t fit the T3 trees. They make it partway. I’ll try heat. Thanks for the replies everyone.

[Kiwi Dave]

I made an adaptor to fit screw the fork, and then screwed a sliding hammer to this.  Worked great!

[Canuck750]

I agree with Clint, the tubes should slide into and through the triple clamps withiout much effort.

I have had a tiny bit of powder coat residue stop a fork tube from sliding through the clamp, a drum sander in a drill or die grinder tool will clean out the bore of the clamp in seconds.

[jrt]

I've run a long bolt backwards through the triple clamp that pushed against a plate on...the inside of the outside.  Sorry- poor description.  Basically instead of tighten up the clamp, run the bolt backwards and have it push against something instead of going through the hole.

[Scout63]

I've run a long bolt backwards through the triple clamp that pushed against a plate on...the inside of the outside.  Sorry- poor description.  Basically instead of tighten up the clamp, run the bolt backwards and have it push against something instead of going through the hole.

Tried that. Terrifying. I was worried about either snapping the tree or stripping the hole.

[Testarossa]

Are you certain both clamps are straight? A used clamp might have been twisted in a collision. Even a quarter degree out of alignment would hang up the tube.

[John A]

Are you certain both clamps are straight? A used clamp might have been twisted in a collision. Even a quarter degree out of alignment would hang up the tube.

This is the most common problem, the trees can be tweaked and not visually apparent that they are. Sometimes in several different planes. They can be straightened if you can tell where they are off. If you stick the old tube in the lower tree it can be used as a lever to move it . A tedious process

[Groover]

Did you try getting really mad at them, shed a few tears of frustration, then hitting them really hard with a big hammer, going for the either they'll fit or they'll be trashed afterwards approach? That method "sometimes" works for me, I don't encourage it, so I'd take others advice on this    Good luck!

[berniebee]

I agree with Clint, the tubes should slide into and through the triple clamps withiout much effort.

I have had a tiny bit of powder coat residue stop a fork tube from sliding through the clamp, a drum sander in a drill or die grinder tool will clean out the bore of the clamp in seconds.

  I reassembled my forks recently. The fork tubes would NOT go in. I tried wedging the triple hole wider by hammering a punch through the slot, which helps a little. But a huge difference was made by simply sanding off the paint on the inside of the bore of the lower clamp. A drum sander is  ideal, but I used some #100 sandpaper with my fingers, moving the paper around and testing with the fork tube often.

[Scout63]

Did you try getting really mad at them, shed a few tears of frustration, then hitting them really hard with a big hammer, going for the either they'll fit or they'll be trashed afterwards approach? That method "sometimes" works for me, I don't encourage it, so I'd take others advice on this    Good luck!

Hi Groover.  I counted to ten, walked away and posted the question.  I reserve blind anger for the golf course. When I have a spare hour I’ll go put the heat gun on it and see what happens. This my replacement $95 set of eBay trees, which were in surprisingly good shape and came with all of the bottom and top hardware (after I bought hardware from Charlie as well.) if I have to buy a third tree I’ll probably cry.

[guzzista]

The only time I had  a similar situation on a 850T the triples were simply  misaligned  from a previous ( unknown to me ) impact.
After a similar struggle I took the set over to my local machine shop who  quickly informed me after a few measurements on the bench.
Ended up replacing the lower triple ( new from dealer ) and everything lined up perfectly afterwards.

[Scout63]

Sorted it. The bottom trees were a hair tight.  I removed the upper tubes from the forks and used a soft mallet to tap them in from the top. It made lining up the headlight ears and rubbers much easier. Then I installed the lowers from the bottom, tightened the top nut and tapped everything down flush. Thanks everyone for the help.

[Groover]