fryejs, longer spacers was just what I was going to suggest.

 

i hope i can explain this...im slapping myself for not taking pics!

Let me start out by saying me and my dad (who have done the work) are not mechanics and are "redneck engineers" we use things that were never meant to be used in such manners, however the job always gets done right.

The cap that actually screws off the top of the tubes that allows access to the springs is the kicker of this whole job. when un-screwing keep downward pressure on it all times or someone will get hit with it once it releases and the spring expands.

i used the same spec PVC pipe that was used in a Progressive kit, it just so happens to be 1" hot/cold PVC, the normal PVC doenst have the correct wall thickness. cut two pieces equal length and they will go in the very top ontop of the springs.

the hard part is keeping things lined up as you compress the spring, PVC and top cap...we used a metal level that just so happened to have the same diameter hole as the outside diameter of the the top cap, it went around the top cap but allowed us to put pressure on the cap and still be able to screw it back down (2 person job).

__l l__



this is what my top cap looked like and the level went around the
top and put pressure around the base and we used a wrench to
spin it and srew it back down...I hope this helps and the drawing
is all I got! LOL.

thanks,
josh

 

I used a 2x4. Drop the tube so the top is between the triple trees. Snug lower tree bolt to hold tube. Place the cap on. Put 2x4 on top of cap and under top tree. Use 2x4 as lever. May need to adjust tube up or down for best press. Pic is in my album.

 

Question about the spacer ... I was at Lowes the other day and thought "what a pain ... I gotta buy a 10' piece of PVC just to get two 2" pieces?" So, I started looking around in that section and found 2" joints (threaded) so bought a couple of those ... think they'll work ...? I was talking to a guy at a local Indy shop and he said sometimes the old timers would use a piece of handlebar tubing, so I was tempted to pick up the same size steel pipe joints ... then I thought "the PVC should work alright ..." Any thoughts ...?

R/
'Chop

 

PVC is a lot easier to cut than metal pipe. A mistake is easy to redo. Go ahead an buy that foot (at least at my local lumber yard you can buy short piecesr try at a plumbing supply place). You may decide that you want to try more preload.

To remove cap and not have to worry about it flying off because of spring pressure- Loosen top cap. Loosen pinch bolt and slide the fork tube down a little. You just want to make sure it can slide. You don't want the fork tube to just fall out. Put board between top cap and top tree. Loosen top cap slowly. It pushes against board/top tree and pushes fork tube down.

fryejs mentioned it was difficult to keep things lined up. Put a washer of the correct size on top of the spring if you don't already have one. This will keep the spacer on top of the spring.
Here's a pic of how I compress the spring on a Fat Boy front end. One man job.

 

I can see this is going to be an all-day evolution for me (or if not all-day, a good couple hours or so) ... I'll have to strip off the tin covers, take off the handlebars, fender and wheel ... guess maybe I'll take the opportunity to change out my brake pads ....

I had seen how you used the 2x4 as a pry bar to seat the cap on the fork tube--good job (and thanks for the photo) ....

If it was just one foot, I wouldn't have agonized over it ... the lenth at Lowes was ten feet ... that's just kind of ridiculous, since I don't have a use for 9' 8" of left over 1" PVC ....

That was why I just went ahead and picked up two x 2" threaded coupler pieces ... same size pipe and already measured to 2" ... my only thought was that I could get steel pipe of the same as I got PVC ....

R/
'Chop

 

I just had my front apart to install the Intiminators. So far I like them. It does take longer because of all the extras that a regular Dyna front doesn't have.
To do the stereo install I don't know how many times I had the fairing off. It takes awhile to align the fairing for the first install after you have had all of the brackets off.
Fryejs are you going to ride bare or with a shield/fairing?

 

Tore into the front en of mine to re-tap a hole I cross threaded and I'm going to add the spacers and change the fork oil. It will be a good time to put the tins on it as well as the aux. lights. Sucks I had to ditch the nacelle but seein at night was much more important!

 

Thanks guys... Count me in this club too..... NICE!!

 

Ashe:

Joining the group is a self-service action item ... on the blue menu bar at the top of the screen, click the drop down arrow by "Quick Links" and go down under networking where there is a link to social groups ... click that and it will take you to the page with a listing of available social groups ... you can scroll down until you find the group you're looking for FL-Dyna Interest Group ... when it takes you to the social group's page, at the top of the page on the line with the group's name, there will be a link to join ... click that link ... all there is to it ....

R/
'Chop