Lubricating suspension linkage

crazybrit · Apr 2, 2006

I was thinking of lubing the suspension linkages and thru bolts on my (new to me) 1998 220R. I have no clue if it's been done before but I just pulled the rear wheel axle to install a Devol guard and it was quite corroded. I've never had to drive a rear axle out with a hammer on any bike before so I'm thinking it the linkages may be somewhat ugly.

I just repacked the linkage bearings on my 96 KLR650 and the main thru bolts and collars were quite badly corroded (requiring extensive sanding with wet paper) but the bearings themselves looked ok but I'm not totally sure on how one determines this?

I was reading the maintenance section on JustKDX where Dave said "From the factory the linkage was so lightly greased you'd swear it wasn't done at all. I'd only owned the bike half a summer before it was time to rebuild the suspension linkage. Slightly used needle bearings and seals anyone? They're going cheep only 4 months on them."

I can't tell from the above if the "slightly used needle bearings" were still any good, probably not else why replace them.

Is there any references online about how to determine when linkage bearings need to be replaced?

Tony

hillsNtrails · Apr 2, 2006

Great questions Tony. I am egarly waiting for answers on this one.

hillsNtrails

Ryan_KDX · Apr 2, 2006

If it hasnt been done since 1998, I guarantee you will not like what you see. I did my 96' in 02' and had to replace everything, but I did it the stupid, expensive way... OEM everything. If you feel obligated to do it, either go with a pivot works kit, or take the old bearing to motion industries and see if they can match something up.

Anyhow, if you pull the bearings and see any wear on the inner race, replace them, Otherwise just grease em' and slap it back together.

crazybrit · Apr 2, 2006

Ryan_KDX said:
Anyhow, if you pull the bearings and see any wear on the inner race, replace them, Otherwise just grease em' and slap it back together.

You have to drive the linkage bearings out. You can't use a bearing puller (i.e wheel bearings) because there is no inner race. Rather there is a removable collar which slides out. I'm unsure therefore what you are referring to by "wear on the inner race". Are you referring to wear on the collar?

I guess the outside of the collar could show "wear" (but verifying this just requires the collar be removed, not the bearings). Also portions of the bearing could not move freely or some form of damage to the bearing surface. Again I would imagine this is verifyable without removing the bearing.

The issue is that I'm unsure what constitutes abnormal wear, it's one of those cases where a few pictures (of worn parts) would be worth a few thousand words.

Tony

QLD_KDX · Apr 3, 2006

Tony, if you pull the swing arm and linkages apart, the first bit that will come out is the center sleeve. This is the bit that takes the bulk of the weight of the needle rollers (which are in a cage as part of the outer race).

Now, if this sleeve is pitted or marked in a permanent way (ie you can't polish the grease off with a rag and have it shiny across it's whole surface) then chances are the needle bearings are shot. Most commonly they will be pitted where the needles have sat on it. The hard chrome surface needs to bit smooth and shiny for the bearing to work properly.

next, have a look at the needle bearings themselves. Is the grease hard and brown? if so it's old and dry, and the bearing is probably shot. Can you spin the needle cage with a finger? if not, it's shot. If you can, does it move smoothly and without 'grabbing'? if it feels rough to spin, it's probably shot.

If the grease isn't too bad and it spins without a grinding feeling, they may be OK - flush them out with some solvent, allow to dry thoroughly and then regrease them. And consider yourself lucky!

A point to note - you won't be able to drive the bearing race out of the body of the swingarm or linkages without ruining them (unless they were brand new yesterday!). If in doubt, get yourself new ones, and watch your old ones just fall apart from rust as you try to remove them...

one last thing - once you have new ones in there, pull them apart to clean and regrease every six months or so. You will be more likely to get away with regreasing instead of replacing...

cheers,
Andrew

crazybrit · Apr 3, 2006

QLD_KDX, thanks.

What you refer to as the "sleeve" I call the "collar". I just did the linkage and swingarm bearings on my Kawasaki KLR650. Turns out (from what you write above) that I was correct in determining that the old bearings were fine. On the KLR (16k miles and pretty sure 1st time it's been done) the outer surface of the sleeve/collars was fine and the bearing needles looked fine/moved smoothly. As far as old/hard/brown grease on the needles, in fact there wasn't much of any type of grease visible. What was scary was the amount of rust on the bolts that run inside the sleeves and the corresponding condition of the inside of the sleeves. I had to spend a fair amount of time with wet sandpaper cleaning them.

Looking at the manuals, only diff between the KLR and the KDX is that the KLR uses one single long bearing the same size as the sleeve and the KDX uses a pair, one for each side.

Yes, realise that removal of bearings is usually a terminal event for them. If it turns out I need to remove the linkage bearings can they be driven out (and installed) by an appropriately sized socket (fitting the outer race) and an extension? Or some other home-grown tool recipe? Or am I looking at the purchase of a special tool?

I have a pretty decent local bearing supply house where I usually get wheel bearings from. Maybe they'll have these bearings but I doubt they will be able to source the sleeves. IIRC there are at least 2 if not 3 PivotWorks kits required to do all of the bearings, ~$200.

Or maybe I was lucky and the previous owner of my KDX did the work. I e-mailed him (and he was aware of this site), we'll see ....

Thanks again

Tony

QLD_KDX · Apr 3, 2006

sweet.
as far as removal goes, you'll never drive them out with a hammer and socket - you need to make up a press. I used a long bolt, a socket and a short piece of steel pipe with a really thick washer or flat steel plate. Basically, the socket goes onto the bolt, then bolt goes through the bearing. On the other side of the bearing place the pipe onto the bolt followed by the washer then the nut. nip it all up, tweak it to get correct alignment then tighten the nut. The socket will press the bearing out and into the pipe. The washer needs to be really strong or it will bend - a piece of flat steel plate with a hole the diameter of your bolt is ideal. You can use this to press the new bearing in as well - you won't need the pipe of course but your washer has to brace against the opposite side of the swing arm in order to pull the bearing in.

Clear as mud?! If you can't understand my rambling, let me know and I'll try to draw a picture for you.

cheers,
Andrew

crazybrit · Apr 3, 2006

QLD_KDX said:
sweet.
I used a long bolt, a socket and a short piece of steel pipe with a really thick washer or flat steel plate.

I've seen similar setups (threaded rod, two washers, two bolts) used for pressing in wheel bearings without requring you drive them in. Sounds similar .... but ....

Basically, the socket goes onto the bolt, then bolt goes through the bearing.

OK.

On the other side of the bearing place the pipe onto the bolt followed by the washer then the nut. nip it all up, tweak it to get correct alignment then tighten the nut. The socket will press the bearing out and into the pipe.

How does this work when you have two bearings, one each side as in the KDX's case? Are you pressing both out?

I'm assuming the inside diameter of the pipe is larger than the outside diameter of the bearing and that it rests against the outside of the swingarm pivot? As an example (assuming [ ] is the swingarm pivot):

nut -- threaded-end-of-bolt -- large-washer -- pipe -- [ bearing bearing ] -- socket -- bolt-head

Torquing on the nut will force the right bearing into the left and eventually it should pop both into the pipe.

When you say 'socket' you are referring to say a 1/2" or 3/8" socket sized so that it can clear the inside of the swingarm pivot and also press against the outer bearing race? Can the bolt clear the inside of a socket? Hmmn.

Clear as mud?! If you can't understand my rambling, let me know and I'll try to draw a picture for you.

Dunno. You tell me :-)

Tony

domino dave · Apr 3, 2006

I got all of my bearings in with a large C-clamp ... and a socket to get the proper recess. C-clamp first, then clamp & socket. Really easy! Also I froze my bearings first because I read about it here. Don't know how much that helped, but if I do it again, that will be exactly how. Dave

QLD_KDX · Apr 3, 2006

crazybrit said:
How does this work when you have two bearings, one each side as in the KDX's case? Are you pressing both out?

yes, that is correct. You wouldn't want to take just one out.

[/QUOTE]
I'm assuming the inside diameter of the pipe is larger than the outside diameter of the bearing and that it rests against the outside of the swingarm pivot? [/QUOTE]

Correct.

[/QUOTE]
As an example (assuming [ ] is the swingarm pivot):

nut -- threaded-end-of-bolt -- large-washer -- pipe -- [ bearing bearing ] -- socket -- bolt-head

Torquing on the nut will force the right bearing into the left and eventually it should pop both into the pipe.

When you say 'socket' you are referring to say a 1/2" or 3/8" socket sized so that it can clear the inside of the swingarm pivot and also press against the outer bearing race? Can the bolt clear the inside of a socket? Hmmn.

[/QUOTE]

I do believe you've nailed it. Use a half inch Sq drive socket which will fit a reasonable diameter bolt through it. Or, you could make something else up to fit. I just used what I could find in the shed.

The idea of using G-clamps could work if you can get the leverage to tighten them enough...when I did mine the bearings were rusted in and took a fair amount of force to extract. I don't know how you would go about freezing the bearings in the swingarm, but that could work when installing new ones.

Andrew

Lubricating suspension linkage

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