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My King headset has developed an annoying creak when turned (creaking at the same point).
Will a cheeky strip-down and regrease help things?
Mine did the same about a year back. No matter how it was adjusted it would creak at the same point when turning.
Took it off and sent it to King, returned saying nothing was wrong. Never regreased it but when i put it back in no creak....
Maybe the cups aren't seated properly in the headtube then...?
I'll try cleaning a greasing first as it's a thin steel headtube.
King headset cups are pretty 'small', they can work loose quite easily. Saying that, for the 30s it takes I'd pop the seal off and stick some fresh grease in there before you start knocking cups out and putting them back in.
Yeah I'm worried I or a workshop will flare the headtube by removing and refitting...
Yes I would be! We've had instances where we've reamed/faced a headtube to fit a Hope headset (often damn tight), the person's 'upgraded' to a King, and you can just drop the cups into the frame by hand! Of course King won't admit there's any issues with their headset cups, but they could certainly stand to be a tiny bit bigger!
Are you running the wee plastic shim that goes between your stem and the headset/spacer? that sorted out a creak on mine.
I've got rigid forks so I have a little stack of alloy spacers between the headset and the stem - but no plastic shim. Does the plastic shim absorb any movement from the top race/cup?
It's designed to take up tiny inconsistencies with 'other' company's badly manufactured spacers/stems etc.
I've never used one, and not had a problem, but it may solve it.
It's a Thomson stem, so would imagine it's nice and square on the underside. The alloy shims are no-name from CRC I think.
I've never used anything like that shim, but will have a hunt around for one in my box. Cheers guys.
its just a tiny sliver of white plastic, I disregarded it at first and left it out. I was using a Thomson too so it mustve been the shim I had under the stem.
What a load of cobblers - Its a scuff washer, designed to prevent marking the headset topcap and the stem/spacer that sits ontop.
Its more likely that the removal of the stem will dislodge grit or dirt causing the creak than the scuff washer curing it.
No, not cobblers http://chrisking.com/taxonomy/term/9
The 'scuff washer' is intended to go between the bearing cap and stem or stem spacers to help offset the effects of unfaced stems. It will help reduce the adjustment problems and creaking commonly caused by unfaced stems.
Thanks Jim, should've checked CK site first...
Ah.
Just like they use a flexible rubber o-ring to hold the steerer central? But oh no, its definitely not a problem and it definitely doesn't cause steerer scoring...
hmmm.
MIne was making a really annoying creaking noise. On the advice of woodsman from on here I popped out the forks and cleaned the cups. Didnt touch the seals, just got my toothbrush in there and scrubbed out all the crud. Put a smear of white grease on the outside of the seals to catch any crap and re-assembled. Result one very smooth and now silent CK headset