Author Topic: Chrome plated or polished steel stanchions?  (Read 562 times)

Offline mikeb

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Chrome plated or polished steel stanchions?
« on: 26.05. 2020 04:38 »
I was going to fit new chromed stanchions as the original ones are quite pitted. but with covid it appears impossible to get any atm, especially with freight to nz disrupted. So...

are chrome plated one that much better (and I should wait a bit) or should i just pop down to british parts and get some polished steel ones of the shelf?

thanks
New Zealand
'61 Super Rocket  - '47 B33 -  '21 Triumph Speed Triple RS

beezermacc

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Re: Chrome plated or polished steel stanchions?
« Reply #1 on: 26.05. 2020 06:25 »
The only reason I would buy chrome plated stanchions would be if I was building a RGS in Clubmans trim where the tops of the stanchions are exposed. In all other respects I would have thought standard ones are fine.

Offline Rex

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Re: Chrome plated or polished steel stanchions?
« Reply #2 on: 26.05. 2020 09:01 »
And if you had a standard pair chromed, surely that would  change the bearing tolerances/clearances?

Offline muskrat

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Re: Chrome plated or polished steel stanchions?
« Reply #3 on: 26.05. 2020 09:33 »
G'day Mike.
I have hard chromed in both mine. The cafe ones are exposed ad look great. The plunger has shrouds but after going through a few sets in 30 years due to moisture sitting on top of the seal and rust pitting the mild steel ones, I fitted the hard chromed ones hoping for a bit more longevity.
You can get the std tubes hard chromed. They grind them off and apply the chrome then grind them to the nominal size. Over here that costs about $300au.
Cheers
'51 A7 plunger, '57 A7SS racer now a A10CR, '78 XT500, '83 CB1100F, 88 HD FXST, 2000 CBR929RR ex Honda Australia Superbike .
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Online berger

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Re: Chrome plated or polished steel stanchions?
« Reply #4 on: 26.05. 2020 10:48 »
at my old works we had to have good hard chrome done so I slipped my forks in with instructions to chrome to where I had put tape, they came back fully chromed and dad had to ease out the bushes he had made, but the exposed chrome has never rusted one bit in over 30 years

Offline Jules

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Re: Chrome plated or polished steel stanchions?
« Reply #5 on: 27.05. 2020 01:59 »
Hard chrome has to be the best way to go for these stanchions surely, there is enough evidence out there of the vulnerability of the standard product I would think, plus modern machines are all hard chromed I thought....

Offline mikeb

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Re: Chrome plated or polished steel stanchions?
« Reply #6 on: 28.05. 2020 11:40 »
Thanks for your comments guys. strangely when re-googling it I found some hard chromed ones in NZ (british spares, nelson) so have put down my extra money and had them delivered already. yet to inspect or install. my a10 is a keeper (and a money pit) so if I do it right once i hopefully I'll never have to contend with pitted stanchions again.

Rex:
Quote
if you had a standard pair chromed, surely that would  change the bearing tolerances/clearances?
you may notice online all the chromed ones appear to come with new bushes fitted. apparently this is coz they are chromed over the standard size so the bushes need a larger ID. hence they come with new bushes fitted. I believe the seals just stretch that bit more. for interest I'll measure the difference from the old stanchion OD.

so, this job started out just to replace the gaitors and now its a fork rebuild and I've also made some 'eddie dow' dampeners. its like painting an old house - funny how these jobs keep growing.
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Re: Chrome plated or polished steel stanchions?
« Reply #7 on: 28.05. 2020 20:03 »
the seals on mine went over ok and work fine

Offline muskrat

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Re: Chrome plated or polished steel stanchions?
« Reply #8 on: 28.05. 2020 20:45 »
G'day Mike.
When fitting new stanchions it's a given to do the bushes as well. Std bushes fitted on my HC stanchions.
Cheers
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Offline mikeb

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Re: Chrome plated or polished steel stanchions?
« Reply #9 on: 01.06. 2020 01:13 »
Quote
it's a given to do the bushes as well
good point Musky. the story that came with the new HC stanchions was they were a bit oversize coz the chroming so arrive with matching sized bushes.
but when i measured them with the micrometer the old ones were 1.247" and the new HC ones maybe almost 1/2 thou larger... ie nothing. so obviously the old bushes still fitted over the new stanchions (i used the new of course). So strange all the HC ones on the interweb appear to come with bushes, tho good.

BTW this is another case of 'made in England' on the box with absolutely no branding or manufacturer stated. Same with the new gaitors. I'm starting to hate that.

All fitted now and very pleasing. didn't even have much of a battle with the dreaded circlips and no clanking. ;) ;)
New Zealand
'61 Super Rocket  - '47 B33 -  '21 Triumph Speed Triple RS