From: Greg Christopher Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 21:04:53 PST Subject: Re: Steering Tube - Seals? ** Reply to message from "John W. P. Davies" on Mon, 13 Jul 1998 03:02:41 -0400 > I stripped my front end this weekend to find the source of a squeak. Found > not a trace of grease in any of the bearings - and I don't use a pressure > hose to clean the bike. Upper right bearing particulalry open to the > environment - anyone any ideas on improving matters (eg rubber washer, etc) Ah, you're one of the lucky ones! You got it before it disintegrated into dust. Bravo. 2nd time around (upper right bearing on upper control arm), I glued a piece of rubber around it to seal it extra well, and used several zip ties. This bit was really designed poorly- it seems to funnel water directly into the bearings! A rubber wire had eaten through the top on mine. the travel of the suspension caused the rubber to wear completely away. That may have been its undoing. There is a little drain on the bottom of that cruddy piece of rubber. Make sure it's able to drain any moisture that gets in there. Trouble is, I think it admits more moisture than it gets rid of. Best thing to do: If you hear squeeks up front, get into this bearing, clean it, and reseal it. By time I got around to fixing mine, it was no longer what you would call a bearing.