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Please tell me it's not new forks... 🙏🏻😭
I assume a/the solution is a new star nut & screw?
I know you can drift the damaged one down/out, but wouldn't that damage the inside of the steerer tube?
Anyone experienced this? What did you do/not do to fix it / replace it?
TIA 🙏🏻
You can remove it out of the top. If your careful you can bend each tab upwards.
Take the bolt out and pop a drill down through the threaded portion of the star nut. Will then fall apart and can be removed with less damage to the steerer.
We had one, must have been overtightened and twisted, just knocked another star nut in on top of it. We do have the right tool for the job. The new star nut just moved the older one further down the tube and out of the way.
Tap it and/or use a longer top bolt and see if that works.
It doesn't do anything other than pre-load the bearings. If it'll hold enough to get the wobble gone, it'll be fine. Once the stem is tightened, you can remove the bolt and top cap so it has no impact on safety.
Pulling a star nut out scrapes the inside of the steerer a bit but not enough to do any structural damage, if you install a OneUp EDC then they provide a tool to pull the star out the top
Easier to stick an old screwdriver or something in and use a hammer to smash the old star nut to bits than trying to get it out the top.
Then pop a new one in and carry on
I made the mistake of trying to dremel it out once, using a bit that cuts ceramic tile and wished i hadnt started. Took about 4 hours and in the end all i managed to do was cut the top section tabs away, which gave it less of a grip on the tube and it hammered through easier.
If I had to do it again I'd use needle nosed pliers and bend those tabs up rather than try to cut them away and still punch iot through and out the bottom.
How badly is it cross threaded? I'd run a tap through it first to see if it can be saved. You don't need much good thread for the preload. If that doesn't work then tap it down 10mm and fit another
I would just knock it down a bit and use a new one - they are cheap and easy to push down the steerer
Smashed a few star nuts out in my time, it's a horrible job. Just drill it and be done with it, start small and work up and it's easy.
As for installing it, the proper tool makes it a doddle, trying to do it by eye just results in either a wonky or knackered nut (and I have mechanical sympathy). For the effort it's worth the price or just take it to a bike shop for the same cost.