Originally Posted by demoncyclist
If you hit the wedge from the bottom, you will only make it tighter. Try loosening the stem bolt all the way, then whacking it down with a mallet. That should pop the wedge loose from the bottom of the stem. If the wedge drops out the bottom of the fork, then you can use the iron rod (if necessary) to knock the stem out of the steerer. If the wedge can't drop through the bottom, you may have to cut the stem and replace it as well as the fork.
the steerer tube isn't tapered, is it? it just seems backwards to me to whack it down instead of up...if i could just pull the stem(with wedge attached) out, i would pull it up. plus, the wedge will probably never make it out the bottom, since the part of the tube that is bent has to be below it.
i may be totally wrong....this is just what seems logical to me