Performer Frame question

[mike.stavlund]

A friend and I did the star nut repair to his 1997 Performer the other night.  The only size star nuts they have at my local bike shop were about 1" in diameter, and the square channel was about 15/16" ID.  So it was a pretty tight fit.  We noticed the frame pieces bulging a bit when we were done, in fact.  We tried to pound the star nut leaves down to a smaller diameter, which helped a bit.  But it was hard to get them to seat in there squarely, so that the bolt projected straight out of the end of the frame piece. 

It was definitely a solid fix, though.  Thanks for guiding me through it, everyone!

I'm going to do the same repair on a friend's 2003 Performer, and I'm thinking about using a vice or a hammer to try to make the star nuts smaller and a bit more square.  Maybe even tune them up with a grinder or belt sander a bit.  Still scheming about it...

[Heyjude]

Tp get them in the tube "Square"  Try a long bolt of the same thread, put a washer in between 2 nuts. Place it at the correct depth. Screw the bolt to the star nut.  Pound it into the tube until the waserh sits flat against the tube.
At that point it should be in the hole square and at the correct depth.
A bench vise to hold the tube would be ideal. I like the idea of grinding the star a bit first.
Make sense?
Just an fyi, its only atheory of how to do it, I haven;t tried it yet.
Let us know how it goes.. AJ
 

[Idahawk]

I dropped my tubes off today at the bike shop and asked him if they used the round star nuts or square  and he showed me exactly what came out of mine they were round , so maybe that other shop was out or didn't know what to get you ?

[pbe gummi bear]

AJ, you know they say great minds think alike! The big washer and 2 nuts is a great idea.

You don't need to spend money on the tool. Just spend $.25 on a longer bolt and some washers. Put one star nut on the bolt in proper orientation. Then add X amount of washers to set the height and then a second star nut. Then plug the second star nut closest to the end of the tube into the tube. Stop when the first star nut closest to the bolt head hits the edge of the tube but don't insert it. The bolt should be long enough so that you have a short handle to make sure it's perpendicular. If that's not clear, check out this guys post on instructables.

http://m.instructables.com/id/Replace-a-mountain-bike-front-fork-for-older-MTBs/step10/Cut-the-fork-to-size-and-install-the-star-nut/

[Heyjude]

Thanks L, I think it would work.  But I still haven't seen one that had round start nuts from the factory.
Whatever they used was originally welded to the tube.
Hopefully it works out just fine.
AJ

[mike.stavlund]

Idahawk, my bike shop gave me round star nuts.  I just had trouble getting the round nut into the square hole without deforming the metal bracket, which is why I was thinking about squaring up my round star nuts. 

...but the nuts I bought today seem like they might be smaller, so that should help. 

[Idahawk]

Gotcha Mike , what did the nuts cost , if you don't mind me asking ?

[Heyjude]

The more I look at the insert in the tube, the more I think they are not welded in. The rust does kill them and thats why they come apart.
The round inserts that you find for bikes are only slightly different than the original. With a little adjustment, they should work and not cause the tube to bulge.

[Idahawk]

With  some welding experience I didn't see any way to weld those back into place with out destroying the star nut it would just be to hot h

[mike.stavlund]

That's what I saw in my DT Performer, AJ.  Like square star nuts.  Mine still have paint on them, though.  I'm trying to think of a way to square off the round star nuts a bit, so they don't deform the flat sides of the frame.  Maybe pound them square with a hammer, or squeeze them in a vice, or grind them down with a grinder.  Or maybe a little bit of all three. 

Idahawk, when I was talking to one of the bike mechanics on Saturday, he sold me 5 star nuts for 10 bucks.  But when I went back yesterday, the boss charged me 5 bucks apiece. 

[Idahawk]

My shop said 3-5 bucks as well .

[Heyjude]

they are like $1 on eBay. What size are you guys buying? AJ