bent fork arm

[insomniacshotrods]

Hello i was wondering if it is possible to straighten the fork arm on my roadmaster fork? I took it off and bead blasted it and it has always looked crooked but i thought it was the way i slotted the fork openings for the bigger axle,but i set them on the level floor and one side comes out farther than the other . They are forged steel and all i have is a propane blow torch will that do it or should i just forget it? I put a set of monark springer forks on and was going to go with that but i still like the original forks better,so im trying to figure out what to do ..Thanks for replies

 

[socal_jack]

I don't believe I've ever seen a forged style vintage fork that wasn't bent in at least 1 dimension. Very soft steel, between that and the soft 5/16 axles, hard to say which was worse or first to bend. I never use those type forks as I don't think for adults they are up to the challenge, ditto the 5/16" axles(although a modern cromo 5/16 is appreciably stronger and pretty cheap). Attempting to bend them to where you think they should go can introduce other subtle or not so subtle alignment issues, but I suppose it's worth a try I've done it with truss forks by hand in a well-anchored vise.

 

[user 135]

You need CCR's Fork Straightner.
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13831

 

[Old Putz]

You need CCR's fork Straightner.
http://ratrodbikes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13831

We had one of those in old Mad Jack Lennan's bike shop in Fremont. Worked well enough if the bike had been run straight into the side of a car or a brick wall or something. But if the fork was tweaked (one side bent farther back than the other) all it did was shift the distortion to a different position. In those cases we'd pull the forks and clamp 'em up in a vise and have at them with a 4 foot long section of 3/4" pipe, twisting the legs 'til they came back into parallel with each other (as verified with a piece of plate glass on the counter top).

Knowing now what I didn't know back then about metal fatigue, work hardening, and stress fractures, I am thankful that none of them ever came back after having been straightened, only to have suffered catastrophic structural failure.

 

[Uncle Stretch]

I believe that metal can be moved to a small degree with any method . If you couldnt rebend it then there would be alot of cars thrown away. Frame straighteners are used every day without problems. If it was a real issue then the insurance companys would make all the wrecked cars be taken off the road. Like Clint Eastwood said "A Man Has To Know His Limitations"....... :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

Take the wheel off and "strong arm" it back to straight.

It does'nt take too much effort.