Steering Stop How important?

Royboy

Royboy

many roads, little time
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So I'm beginning to strip down the 77'D that got crashed yesterday. Numerous scrapes and scuffs of course. Gonna need a new fuel tank, etc., etc. One thing however has me a bit stumped. The steering stop welded to the headstock snapped off at the weld when the bars went hard over. It's not a spot I want to weld on because of bearings etc. and also getting that area hot is going to destroy the factory id sticker. Anyone ever run without the stop? Could I drill the weld, tap the hole and create a threaded stop? Thoughts?:confused:

roy
 
First, you absolutely need the stop, it is what prevents the tank from getting dented by the triple trees.
The stop comes from the factory only welded at the top, away from the steering bearings. An experienced TIG welder should be able to weld the stop back on with zero damage to the bearings. The heat from TIG welding is very localized, not like other welding methods that produce lots of heat that travels.
I just did this same repair today, on an 82. The sticker was about an inch away from the weld which was enough so that it wasn't damaged.
 
Hi Roy,
what the Bunny sez.
Or if you can't find a bro with TIG, combine the stickweld fix with swapping out the crowded ball headraces for tapered rollers.
 
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