I am a little confused. I have an 05 lowrider and I was thinking about putting some chrome triple trees on it. I want to get HD part # 45023-02 which is supposed to be the same trees as stock, just in chrome. The HD site says that a bearing kit needs to be bought with it. Is this correct? If they are the same trees I already have than why do I need a bearing kit? Also, I know my lowrider has more rake than the other Dyna models, is this because of a different frame, bearing cups, trees or what? I to make sure I am not going to lose rake if the trees are actually different from what I got.

 

Do you sacrifice the bearings when you completely disassemble the trees? Do you have to press new ones in?

 

Negative ... you should be able to reuse the bearings unless there are signs of excessive wear. When reassembling the stem, be sure to put a good packing of grease. Should be fine ....

R/
Priest

 

It is generally considered good practice to replace your bearings & races as a set. The bearings & races over time & miles will "wear" in together. It probably depends on how many miles you have on your bike. The rake on a lowrider is in the frame.
When I converted to a stock wide glide front end I replaced the bearings & races, I had about 65k miles on my bike at that time.

Your call, personally if I've got the whole front end torn apart I might as well do a little preventative maintenance.

 

replace the bearings,,,,the lower bearing is pressed on the lower tree assembly,,,easier to replace than get off unless you have a bearing puller,,,,
also go with aftermarket bearings,,,i found some for my 06 for 20.00 cheaper than the stealer,
only had to get the lower dust cover from the stealer for a couple of bucks,,,,,

 

You can get bearings at Auto Zone. Get "SET 14" bearings. I can't remember the price or if they came with the races, but they are much cheaper than HD.

 

I was going to order the trees through Chicago HD. The bearing kit they call out for is $22.40 with the 20% discount. I didn't think that was too bad.

 

If you are going to change the trees to chrome one's you may want to think about after market chrome ones that mount the headlight on the lower tree for a diff look.you will have to buy a headlight ,but they are cheap on E-bay.

 

Believe me, I have. I wanted to go with a set from Vulcan and change to a midglide like you did. It's $450 for their kit and then I have to get a light ($100 - $200) and something to do with the indicators. I saw some great ideas on the forum on what to do with the indicators. Money is getting tight for the bike. I have earmarked $2000 to put into it and more than half of that is going into paint and the rest I planned on getting chrome pros to do the wheels. I am about to put it into the shop for street slammers, chrome sliders, tires, and a few other little pieces I have as well. Its gonna cost me about $450 to do that alone. I already the parts. I thought I would put the trees on it while I had it apart. I can get them for about $160. I haven't fully made up my mind yet but I have to do something soon. My front is wore out and we have an annual trip to Key West coming up in a month.