# How far do I push the starnut on my stem?



## Old Dawg (Feb 28, 2006)

Building up (or I should say rebuilding) my old 99' Fisher Paragon as a SS and noticed when I took the headset apart that the star nut was almost at the top of the steerer tube. I only noticed this when I was adjusting the stem and the nut was not really getting tight. It seemed like it was just pulling the star nut further up the tube. 

I pushed it down using a hammer and punch and it tightened up just fine. The bike seems to ride fine, however not knowing how far to push the nut down has me a bit concerned.

Is there some rule of thumb how far to push the star nut down? Should I replace this nut? The bike has about 6 years of relatively hard riding on it and the starnut is the original from when I upgraded the stem about the same number of years ago.

OD


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## ferday (Jan 15, 2004)

my starnuts range from an inch or so down, to right at the top. as long as the tines are digging into the steer tube, it doesn't matter. once the stem is bolted on the starnut is completely useless anyways.


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## Bikinfoolferlife (Feb 3, 2004)

Like ferday sez, you just don't want to set it so far down that your top cap bolt won't reach and tighten...


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## Rainman (Apr 18, 2004)

About 1/2" down from the top of the steerer tube is the recommended distance.


R.


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## MattP. (Oct 3, 2005)

15mm

Matt


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## salimoneus (Oct 12, 2004)

yep you want it down about 15mm, you need the bolt to not only reach and tighten, but also be fully threaded through the nut, otherwise it may loosen


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