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Using stock metal spacers (and cutting) for progressive and race tech springs?

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WTF304:
Yea but wouldn't an impact destroy the threads in the aluminum?  .... be alot safer to just wrench them out

johnnymot1:
I had not problem removing the damper bolts on the legs. My issues have always been removing the top caps, so I start a week or so in advance with some variant of liquid wrench. Thankfully this set came off easily. Amazing the amount of sediment inside this set I just pulled apart, including in the bottom of the dampers.

I have the PVC spacers that came with the new springs as well, but I'm going to look at using the metal stock ones now. I'm sure they both work fine, but just a personal choice for me for now to see how they work. Excited to get these back together with new springs, fork oil (not ATF) in the 10-15w range, seals and tapered roller steering head bearings.

My only intimidation is putting the headlight wiring puzzle back together and making it "re-fit" back inside the headlight bucket, but I'll figure it out and have another FT beside it as a guide.

johnnymot1:
I answered my own question. Progressive states you can use the PVC spacers or "shorten the stock spacers and use". With a tubing cutter, or cut off saw, it should be too hard getting a straight cut on the stock metal spacers.

On the subject of using an impact wrench on the bottom dampers. Low and behold, when working on a "parts fork" assembly today that I absolutely ruined the fork top caps on trying to get them off, one of the bottom damper bolts would not move. I stripped it, then drilled the head off because I don't have an impact. Otherwise I would have used it. The damper it threads into is steel of course, so no worries about stripping aluminum.

You know what the forks with the stuck top caps and stuck bottom bolt most likely had in common? Over torquing both.  The top capps were "burred" from over tightening, thus locking them into the tubes, and that bottom damper bolt was way, way over torqued. I assume a previous fork rebuild did the trick, thus reminding me torque values are set at minimum and maximum for a reason.

The progressive install is pretty straightforward, telling you to cut spacers for the FT500 at 5.5", but the Race Tech springs get a little more technical about pre load, static sag etc.....

WTF304:
Engines .... brakes ..... carbs .... tires and wheels ..... electrical ..... exhaust .... cables and so on i can do. Forks I've never done and it's not that I'm not confident with doing them i just don't want to screw them up. guys who do these things all day have a better eye then i would for abnormal wear or service limits or a worn out part. I'm sure i could spot something but it would be nice to have that piece of mind .... and the experience is always a good thing.

What made me think to not do it myself was the installation paper. ... if you have this and this and this toss it but not that one kinda deal

WTF304:
Just out of curiosity. ... does the bike stand ok on the center stand without the front end ? .... how did you guys keep the bike from falling over when pulling the front end ?

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