Trek Marlin Stem Help
 

Hello all,

I recently noticed some rust on the bottom of and inside the stem of my '09 Trek Marlin (I live between two bodies of salt water in Florida). So, I took apart the stem assembly and went over it with steel wool and put some primer on it to prevent more in the future. Everything went fine.

My problem now is that I can't seem to get the stem back together with all the parts in the right order. I thought I had it, but there seemed to be some wobble, so I didn't test it out because I didn't want to screw anything up under my weight.

Can anyone enlighten me on the correct order of things? I looked for an exploded diagram but couldn't find anything.

If you would like an image, let me know and I can go take one.

Thank you!

Take it to a bike shop.

The part you are saying is the stem can't be, as it can't rust, as the stem is made from Aluminium, the bolts will probably have surface corrosion, that's common but doesn't make sense with what you are saying.

Unless you have photos, someone needs to see what you have to know what you have done.

Here's an image.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=263157

I have the pieces on the stem the way I think they go, except for the gap in the middle where the frame gets sandwiched. The top part is in the right order. The bottom, towards the tire, is where I think the problem is. I should have paid more attention when removing the pieces. I'm not sure where the silver sleeve (to the right of the rightmost bearing in the image) goes. I'm also not 100% sure if the bearings are facing the right directions seeing as they're not completely symmetrical.

The picture is of the steerer tube (what you have marked as Frame), this can have surface corrosion, which isn't an issue, and wouldn't want to prime it as it is a clamping area.

From your description you are having issues with the (a)headset installation, unless you have the manufacture / model number, and can download the installation diagram, or follow this http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-...eadset-service, would still suggest that you need to take it to a bike shop,