Help!? Quill frozen in fork tube!

Michigan John said:

So, I'm trying to get a quill stem unfrozen from a fork tube. The dude that
owns the bike bought it from a guy who used it on a trainer and SWEAT all
over it for years. The headset is shot, so the quill stem has got to come
out. The quill is aluminum, the threaded fork tube's steel.

I've been soaking it with Liquid Wrench for over a week. Tapping and
banging. I even heated what I could reach with a propane torch. It's still
not moving.

What do I do now?

See:http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/stuck-stem.html

The problem is that aluminum corrodes and forms oxides which are
bulkier than the parent material, so the stem "swells", locking it in
place. The oxides are relatively impervious to chemical attack and you
can't usually get lubricants into the interface.

You can try to get it to move with a vise, but often the amount of
torque you'd need is more than you can provide without damaging the fork.

The inevitable solution is to cut off most of the stem and start
removing material from the inside of the tube formed by the stem stub.
After you get the wall thinned, you can slot it and fold it away from
the inside of the steerer.

I've only done this once, I used a rotary rasp bit (a pear shaped one on
a hand drill) to chew away the stem wall and a hacksaw blade to slit. I
left enough of the stem above the steerer to grab with pliers. It was a
bit tedious, but all in all took an hour or so.

The reason I used a rasp bit is that grinding stones are slower, tend to
clog with aluminum and can cut the steel steerer. I suppose you could
use successively larger drill bits (if you had them). I found I didn't
have to go that deep into the stem stub (perhaps 1"😉 because the
corrosion forms at the top.

Michigan John said:

So, I'm trying to get a quill stem unfrozen from a fork tube. The
dude that owns the bike bought it from a guy who used it on a
trainer and SWEAT all over it for years. The headset is shot, so
the quill stem has got to come out. The quill is aluminum, the
threaded fork tube's steel.

Quoted message said:

I've been soaking it with Liquid Wrench for over a week. Tapping
and banging. I even heated what I could reach with a propane torch.
It's still not moving.

Quoted message said:

What do I do now?

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/stuck-stem.html

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/threadless-headset.html

Jobst Brandt

"Michigan John" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

So, I'm trying to get a quill stem unfrozen from a fork tube. The dude
that owns the bike bought it from a guy who used it on a trainer and SWEAT
all over it for years. The headset is shot, so the quill stem has got to
come out. The quill is aluminum, the threaded fork tube's steel.

I've been soaking it with Liquid Wrench for over a week. Tapping and
banging. I even heated what I could reach with a propane torch. It's still
not moving.

Since the headset is shot, this might be an opportune time to replace the
fork and switch to threadless. Your buddy can get a decent CF fork from
Nashbar for only $80. I had one. It worked fine. In fact, I will sell it
to him for $15 plus postage since it is just collecting dust ( it was a
replacement fork in an old steel frame that was retired shortly after
installation due to cracking around a frame lug that I did not feel like
repairing). No warranties. Star nut installed. Uncut Al steerer.

Otherwise, you have exhausted your simple options and your only other option
(besides fork replacement) is like everyone else has said -- hacking-off the
stem and reaming out the stump in one way or another. I would go to
threadless because your friend will not have this problem again, and he will
be able to choose from a zillion threadless stems and headsets on the
market, many of which are very cheap. -- Jay Beattie.

Michigan John said:

So, I'm trying to get a quill stem unfrozen from a fork tube. The dude that
owns the bike bought it from a guy who used it on a trainer and SWEAT all
over it for years. The headset is shot, so the quill stem has got to come
out. The quill is aluminum, the threaded fork tube's steel.

I've been soaking it with Liquid Wrench for over a week. Tapping and
banging. I even heated what I could reach with a propane torch. It's still
not moving.

What do I do now?

Here's a totally different approach.
If you have a way of coupling the output of an audio amp to the fork
tube, (woofer with a bad cone?), apply some sound at moderate to high
vibration of the frame and go for a ride. An hour or so of that is
probably equal to years of waiting for oil so seep in.
Disclaimer;
I used to work where they had a half-ton shaker table that was
programmable. We proved that 99% of the time we could break anything if
it was shaken enough.
Bill Baka

Michigan John said:

So, I'm trying to get a quill stem unfrozen from a fork tube. The dude that
owns the bike bought it from a guy who used it on a trainer and SWEAT all
over it for years. The headset is shot, so the quill stem has got to come
out. The quill is aluminum, the threaded fork tube's steel.

I've been soaking it with Liquid Wrench for over a week. Tapping and
banging. I even heated what I could reach with a propane torch. It's still
not moving.

What do I do now?

Remove the bolt. Cut the stem. Unscrew the headset, pull the fork out.
Melt out the aluminum stem stump (won't affect the steel column). Ream
clean and then be sure to remove/clean lube your new stem regularly.
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971