Huffy Torch

How much room is there between the back tire and the upper and lower frame? Like would a full 3 inch wide tire fit alright? Its a bitchin looking frame and color.

A full 3" width tire would easily fit. I measured 3.4" at that point. 

I looked at the forks and they are not worth trying to improve. They have springs in both legs, but I'm fat (250) and they don't stand a chance. Lol.   The movement is so rough that I've decided to just install a few screws in the sides and make them rigid. 

Any luck? Our stock fork is usually stamped & press-fit so it's not meant to come apart for service. People have tried motor oil soaking, grease packing, aircraft lubes, you name it. That's for the tight ones. Compressing too easily is probably unsolvable - well, not without major experimental surgery. I'll measure a couple of my standard 29er forks & see if a 3" tire will fit. I ran 2.5" on 2 & think there was still plenty of room. That would open some inexpensive options for you, if they fit. Will let you know later today.   

Surprised about the weight. That's not bad at all. Pacific/mongoose may be learning. It also means the tires aren't 5 or 6 lbs a piece either which had been a sore spot on all their fat bikes until recently.  

I finished the lube/reassembly process and took it for a brief ride in the dark using a flashlight on my head. Here are some random observations:

I didn't find any machining swarf in the bearings. The hubs had plenty of grease and felt smooth. I still cleaned out the Chinese grease and packed everything with marine grease. 

The bottom bracket was smooth, but had just a very light coat of grease. 

Crank arms are aluminum.

Rim brakes work fine for my use. Later I'll install some quality cables and pads. Maybe.

I really like the twist shifters. They are much better than the one on my Mongoose Malus.

I lowered the tire pressure to 22 psi. I had no problem riding in my soft yard and hayfield. The rigid fork didn't seem to beat me up.

I'm getting some creaking from the bottom bracket when pedaling. I'm guessing I didn't get the bearing preload right?

The seat stinks. A new seatpost and seat will be my next purchase.

The Malus stem and handlebars are back towards me about an inch and a few inches wider. I like the ergos. 

I still need to adjust the derailers. 

Overall a great deal for $85.

I rode the Torch back to back with my Malus today. Ride was down a rough, hilly, rutted farm road leading to my soybean field and then around the field, across a hayfield, and finishing with a gravel lane. I like them both, but have to give the nod to the Malus for it's ability to absorb bumps and float over the soft stuff. However, on the smoother stuff I really like how the Torch rolls and picks up speed quickly. I know the rigid fork makes it ride a lot rougher, but the ride was almost good enough as is.  The Torch is definitely a keeper and worth spending some money on.

So, thanks for the generous offer.  I guess I'd have to lace up a new hub if I wanted to use a disk brake?  The stock rim width is 39mm on the outside.  At this point I think I'd like to stay with the rim brakes and see just how cheaply I can make a decent bike out of it. It sounds like all of the 29er forks will have enough room for a 2.8" tire. 

Now I'm going to see about getting rid of that creaking noise....

I tightened the bottom bracket some but it didn't help the creaking. The creaking is happening on each pedal power stroke.  I held the brakes and pushed on one pedal firmly and could see the freewheel pull forward which I think is from the axle flexing.  I assume someone makes a heavy-duty rear axle?

The RST forks used to have a US rep. There was an issue with an RST air fork the one you linked looks good for your riding. Better if you can find a US rep/sales outlet in case there are problems.

As far as a 29er specific wheel, they're based on the 400c standard, that's not a measurement, its a standard. 29er is a tire size, not a wheel size. 29ers are a 400c wheel with a wither rim - which is not standardized either. But most 29er rims are 22mm & up. The fat 29er tire bead will seat on any "29er" wheel. i.e. my Huffy millennial cruiser 29er has the same rim width as your torch. Would not be surprised if it has the same single wall rim too. My point is, any disk ready "29er" wheel will likely accomodate the semi-fat 29er tire. The bead will seat & that's what counts. Keep in mind too, a standard wheel advertised as 400c is likely to have a narrow rim, in which case the tire will roll off the rim at low pressures. 

Front wheel flex - assuming you rechecked the headset to be sure it was tight. Be sure to lift the fork/wheel off the ground by the crown when checking for play in the fork tube & stem. Let the fork sit on the lower race when checking. There is some flex in every 29er fork/wheel I've seen, regardless of fork/wheel combos. Even rigid forks. If it came with 9 mm QR, solids would likely be better on that bike in your weight class but you would star bending the rear axle first if they were an issue at all. Perhaps check the cone nuts again now that its been ridden a bit.

I had a similar BB problem with the beast after one monsoon season. Ended up tearing it all down again, stripping & regreasing, reinstalling, and it went away. Never really knew what it was but a "quick" rework cured the problem. I guess frame flex causing the creaking is possible but seems unlikely unless a failure is in the works.  Even handle bars flexing at the stem can creak like that.

BTW - the frame is steel, not alum, yes?

After the Malus, you should be a freewheel expert  I keep going back to the headset & fork for the creak, considering the modifications in that area. Someday you'll do something & it will go away, but by then you'll probably have forgotten about it anyway.

Freewheel, not front wheel - reading this stuff on a phone doesn't always cut it. 

Lol, yea, I learned a lot from the Malus.

I tightened the rear hub bearings slightly tonight and reinstalled the Huffy freewheel. No change in the creak. 

I get where you'd blame my fork "mod", but I checked the head bearings several times and they are on the snug side of perfect now. They were slightly loose at first. No change in the creak.

During coasting I've bounced around, braked hard, turned hard, ridden rough ground -  and there is no creak.  I can lightly pedal on smooth level ground and I get the creak. It is the loudest when the pedal arm is parallel to the ground and I'm exerting the most force in the pedaling cycle.  If it was my fork or head bearings the creaking would show up riding on rough ground or when I'm bouncing around on the bike.

Mental illness is a funny thing...

So anyway, today I decided to try two more things. The freewheel was bottoming on the end of the threads instead of the end of the wheel hub so I turned a shim to get a solid fit between the freewheel hub and the wheel hub. I did the same thing on my Malus. I believe that having the hub bottom out on the threads is a manufacturing shortcut rather than good mechanical practice.

Then I found thick washers for bolting the rear axle in the dropouts. The stock washers are made of cheese and deform easily. Further, the chainstays are pulled in when tightening the axle nuts so I put a thick washer on each side. The axle now is the same width as the distance between the dropouts and the washers are thick and solid.

Results: Creaking greatly diminished, and going away the more I rode today. It was in the 20s and snowing so I didn't ride much. Lol.

One benefit to this fiasco is that I know this bike inside and out. Everything works smoothly and it rides solid now.

OCD for the win. 

That is a great looking bike. Id like to try the extra big hoops some time. Don't think I could put that much work in a new bike tho.