Softail Clunking Front End

This is a subject that a great number of people have been experiencing lately. HD has upped the torque specs for the later models from 35 FT/LBS to 100 FT/LBS. It may not be posted correctly in your owners manual.

I used 70 FT/LBS to see if it would stop the clunk and it worked just fine. I was concerned about the 100 LB figure that...

click here to read the entire tip ►

glider

The difference between the softails and touring is that when off the ground on a lift, the touring bikes will self center if you swing the wheel to either side and the softail will not, it has to be coaxed off center and then falls away and stays there.. The softail procedure is a bit different than the touring.

The proper torque for the stem nut is 70 ft lbs.

nuclearbrew

Glider,
I used the link you gave me, and read everything in this post. It seems the 70 ft lbs rule applies to most softails, but not the heritage. The manual does say to loosen the pinch bolts, and the allen screw under the steering head bolt. It also shows an adjuster nut by the pinch bolts. I cannot find on on my bike. I was told by harley davidson, that there is no adjusting nut on this bike to just use the steering nut. Who is correct, the manual or the techs? For clarification do you recommend tightening the top steering nut to 70 ft lbs on a heritage?

Gary12850

The tech was partly right, the FLSTC does not have the star adjuster, and the FXST have it, yours will have to be torqued to 70#