Linkage bolt stuck.HELP!

[KDX200Biker]

I have a 1996 KDX200. and i cant get the bolt out of the linkage where it bolts to the frame. I got the nut off and the bolt spins if i turn it from the other side but it wont come out. even when i hit it with a hammer and punch. I think the bolt has welded itself to the roller it goes into that spins on the berings? It just wont come out even tho it is loose and turns. any ideas to get it out??

 

[David Trustrum]

Make sure you remove the weight off the bolt, ie jack the wheel up. A bit of heat never hurt. Well except seals & they needed replacing.

 

[KelvinKDX]

When i took mine out of my 99 KDX200 it slid out like it had just been out the day before.

My buddies (98 KDX220) were a different story. He ended up treading a different nut on to the bolt and using quit a bit of force (trashing a sockect extension). His bearings and seals were shot. Mine were great and i just applied more grease to them and reassembled. :)

Good luck!

 

[canyncarvr]

Grease it, grease it summore..and then..

Grease it!

While the pivot shaft/sleeve connection is NOT a bearing surface, it is still metal-to-metal, and will corrode itself stuck.

When you get to the reassembly part, besides the bearings themselves, put a good deal of grease on the pivot shaft and the inside of the sleeves, too. yeah..most of it will get scraped off during install, but a decent lube-job will prevent it from sticking next time.

Same goes for wheel axles!!

At this point, it'll be a matter of 'sufficient' pressure, solvents or heat. A 2# sledge will work much better than a 16oz hammer.:eek:

Wear your safety glasses when you're wailing on it!!!:ugg:

 

[KDX200Biker]

i already have the bike on a stand the whole swingarm is off and the shock

 

[BRush]

The sleeve is most likely rusted to the bolt. There's probably no way to get it out that does not involve some struggle, but here's one more thing you can try before breaking out the big hammers: Drain the oil and remove the gas tank. Lay the bike on it's side so that the threaded end of the frozen linkage bolt is facing up. Use a screwdriver to pop off the bearing seal (if you don't know what seal I mean, go to www.buykawasaki.com and look at the parts diagram for the rear suspension, it's part number 92049-1402), then liberally apply penetrating oil all around the bolt and sleeve. The idea is to get it to run down between the bolt and the sleeve. Let the bike lay there overnight to give the penetrating oil a chance to loosen the rust and then try driving it out again.

 

[jimicarl]

tough lesson

one more real good reason to tear you linkage apart several times each year, clean everything up, and reinstall with new seals, maybe new bearings, and lots of brand new slimy, goopy stuff.

lot's cheaper that replacing all the things that you just ruined by hitting repeatedly with your biggest "persuader".

by the way BRush..., good idea! think that one's worth copying & slipping inside the service manual.

 

[Curt Doelman]

I had the same problem when I had to replace all the bearings on the shock-linkage; I used a lot off penetrating oil and let it soak overnight; with a heavy hammer and an extension I hit on both sides off the linkage bolt(left and right side) and finally it came lose

 

[Gary B.]

I just had a similar experience with a swingarm bolt. Wound up heating the bolt head with an oxy/acetelene torch, give the heat a chance to work down the bolt, expanding the sleeve ever so slightly, allow to cool, and out it came with a few light taps. You should probably replace the bolt after doing this, however, as I'm sure this messes with the hardness of the bolt. I gotta agree with the others on this, you really need to take these things apart at least once a year and then you don't have these problems.:debil:

 

[KDX200Biker]

Sorry. i just got the bike so the people who had it before me must have not did anything. BTW i have the shock off should i put in new oil and nitrogen. i have a bottle of nitrigen with all regulaters needed. I never did this before, can i do it?

 

[Gary B.]

Don't touch the shock !!!! Leave that for a professional.

 

[jimicarl]

you can do it!

if you're a better-than-average home mechanic, you can do the shock if you have some good professional guidance first time around. once you've done it..., you'll see that it's not really all that big a deal, and you'll know what questions to ask before digging in. it's messy..., but not technically difficult.

i've done a couple now. it takes me awhile..., but i like being secure that all the all the old oil is gone, all the parts are squeeky clean before reassembly, there's absolutely no air in the system, and any worn parts have been properly replace. i suspect that sometimes, that much care just isn't exercised at a "time-is-money" shop (and you can betcherboots that for a shop to make money..., production time IS an issue).

if you have a shop that'll let you sit in the maintenance bays & watch..., take the time to watch them do somebody else's shock.

and read your shop manual, carefully

you might end up having somebody do it for you, anyway.

i would definitely echo gary b's suggestion (at least partly), that you take it to a shop for the nitrogen. it's $20 well spent for not "blowing it" yourself.

whatever you do..., don't fly at it without some competent guidance. there's a couple of parts that you could break real easy. and if you break them.., it's purchase-a-new-shock time.

and one other thing..., if you're thinking about doing something to change the shock's damping characteristics..., disregard all that crap i just spewed at you, and take it to somebody who really knows what it's all about.

 

[Kwackers]

I had the same problem with a stuck bolt on a Cr125, tried everything, heating, freezing bolt, lump hammer. Eventually I had to buy a really thin 0.5mm disc and cut the bolt through both sides between the frame and the suspension linkage. Just to see how stuck the bolt was I placed it in a 6" vice and pounded it with a sledge hammer. It still wouldn't budge from the sleeve it had welded itself to ! It sits in my garage as a "sword in the stone" challenge to any who wish to try.

 

[joe28kdx]

$!#@#$%^%!! Stuck bolts!

I know that feeling well. I've had a few. As a long time mechanic, heat works well I heat up one side while penetrating oil on the other. SAFETY GLASSES AND EXTINSHER!! The heat will draw the oil down. Then Get the other side soilid, (A plate or something. A good hit on the nut to ,"Shock it" and see it that'll do it. I restored a '76 Yami 250 and had to cut off the head of the bolt. then drill it out.
Assemble is easy, Here's a great tip. Mix 50/50 bearing grease and anti seize. Bearing brease won't desolve in water and well the never seize is great. I have a small grease gun I fill with this and do all my bearing, susp. parts with it
good luck and remember patients, it's just dumb metal :)
Joe
2001 KDX 200
2001 TTR 125 Boy "A"'s
1996 xr80 Boy "B"'s

Some days your RC and some day your the berm

 

[KDX200Biker]

I GOT IT OUT. Yes.

That thing sure was stuck. I put a torch on it for about 10 min till it was almost red and i hit it about 10 times with a sledge hammer. Finnaly i hit it as hard as i could and the whole bike flew off the stand and landed about 5 feet away (yes i was mad and hit it VERY hard) I looked down and TADA the bolt moved about 1/4 of an inch, i had to hit it this hard with a punch about 20 more times but now its out. I will never know what kind of demonic forces could hold that bolt in there. it was like against the laws of physics, it was just tooo stuck. Im sooo happy now:) .