Swingarm Bearing!

[wibby]

Well I finally did it, been putting it off for far too long. But I ordered a Moose swingarm bearing kit just in case. As if I had any doubts about the bearings?? :eek:
Remember my steering head bearing? (http://dirtrider.net/forums3/attachment.php?attachmentid=3880)

Well I did not have to break out the sawzall, but it had me wondering. I soaked the pivot bolt with WD40 over night, and had me a nice big breakfast in the morning so I could go out and wale on the darn bolt! With the first hit with the sledge, my left hand holding the drift slipped and mashed my hand into the foot peg :silly: Wrapped a rag around the foot peg to cure that.
After about 10 hard blows, I decided to go get a bigger sledge and after another 10 or so blows the bolt actually moved about 2mm! :worship:
So I went and fired up my propane torch and got everything nice and smokin’ hot. I was starting to wonder if I should have taken the gas tank off, having that torch in such a close proximity to it, but I figured too late for that.

Well anyway I went back to the sledge and hey it moved, not much, but enough to get my spirits back up. I got it to move until it was flush with the frame. I guess I should add that I was hitting it as hard as I can at this point. And then I said to myself now what? The drift was larger than the hole for the pivot bolt. The bolt was not out far enough to grab on too from the other side. So I went to the other side and pounded it back in and then pounded it back out and repeated this until it got a lot easier to move the bolt back and forth. Then I dove into my dirty shop looking for something the right size to drive out the bolt, and luckily I found a round bar just the right size. I gave ‘er one good smack and the bolt went flying out. And then I started hearing a sound that reminded me of changing out that steering head bearing. Little metallic sounds of needle bearings falling to the ground!

Well that’s about as far as I’ve got . I cleaned everything all up and the only bearings that look really bad are the swingarm(of course) and the lower shock bearing, the rest look pretty good, I have a kit to replace everything, but I may just replace the bad ones for now. I dunno

Gonna replace my shock spring. So I figured I’d replace the oil in it too. I went to let out the nitrogen out of it and all I heard was a little pssst. Man there could not have been a pound in there! Guess I’ll probably be ordering a new bladder for that...

 

[fatty_k]

Don't worry about the shock. When I released the nitrogen from mine, there was just a tiny amount in there as well. There is just a small volume, but under high PSI.

 

[wibby]

It did not sound like it was under very much pressure, I was expecting a lot more than the barely audible "psst" I got out of it.

Oh BTW, I keep hearing how 12pt sockets are not good for really tight stuff, on how they can round off bolt heads. Well all my metric sockets in my set are 12pt. and I have yet to screw up a bolt or nut with a 12pt. socket. Only time I ever screw up bolt/nut heads is when I'm using some tool other than a socket. I had to use a 20" pipe as a breaker bar with my 3/8 ratchet to get the bolts loose on the linkage and swingarm.

 

[Matt90GT]

ah the joys of fixing up a used bike!

Plan on getting a new swing arm pivot bolt to. There will be grooves worn in the bolt. If you reinstall it, it will seize up in there with the new bearings.

Also check the unitrack link to make sure the lower shock bearing hole is not ovaled out. If it is not bad, you can drill it out and install a sleeve. Otherwise you will need a new unitrack link.

Been there before on mine! When I got my 250 it was more JB weld than Kawasaki parts on the bike! Cheap bike though and the motor was strong.

 

[JasonWho]

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[wibby]

I cleaned up the pivot bolt with some emory cloth, it has some very slight grooves on one side that you can just barely feel with your finger nail. I'll take it down to my mechanic and see what he thinks about it.

Also, you are the devil. 12-pt socket user. :-) I can't stand those

I never heard that about 'em before here....

 

[JasonWho]

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[McRider]

Have you tried threading the nut onto that swingarm bolt? I would be surprised if you didn't mess up the threads after swinging a sledge hammer as hard as you can, even using a soft drift. By the way, that bolt costs over $20, but if you need one you might find one at a motorcycle salvage yard.

I have felt your pain, and so now I make sure to lube all my suspension pivots every year. In my case I sawed off the bolt head after I got it part way out (not an easy task), and then drove it back out from the left side.

 

[Matt90GT]

Yes it is an expensive bolt retail, but a very critical part of the suspension!!!

Any grooves in that bolt and it should be replaced. If you have a mechanic tell you otherwise, that is a bad sign!

 

[wibby]

Update:
Well I have not had time to work on my bike since last week. I just started a new job working out in the woods on a road building crew, driving a Cat Vibratory Roller.

I was starting to get nevous when I started running out of surface on the old bearing to hit with the drift, but eventually, I got what was left of the bearings out of the swingarm, It was a major PITA until I found just the right sized socket and I had to apply some heat. After that both bearings came out easy.

The lower shock bearing was shot but the hole looked good. The rest of the bearings look good, but since it is such a PITA to take apart I may just replace everything while it is torn apart.

Well, time to go see if they go in any better than they come out!

 

[jpm200]

I just changed my bearings out. I used 2 sockets (one with about the same OD as the bearing and the one that I use for the head stem nut) and a vise and cranked the bearings out easily. I couldn't get them out by driving them.

 

[BRush]

Pounding these things out with a hammer is risky and you'll find it very difficult to install them the same way. To install the bearings, I made up a little tool. This consisted of a 19mm socket (because it was the same O.D. as the bearing), a 10" length of threaded rod, some nuts for the rod, and a bunch of flat washers. The idea is to make a press: the rod goes through the swingarm bore & bearing. The socket is slid over the rod followed by the washer & nut.

 

[wibby]

Well a quick run to Harbor Freight and now I'm all set....

Got an arbor press and a bearing driver kit, all for just under than $55

Works pretty slick!

 

[JasonWho]

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[louis]

Is that new road flat and smooth ? How about some woops.

 

[DVO]

Wibby:
Quite awhile back someone(name forgotten) on this site bored a hole down thru the center of the s-arm to the depth of the furthest bearing race. He then bored a hole in line with each bearing race so grease could get to them from inside the s-arm. The s-arm was zerked and the races no longer seized to the s-arm. You might consider that while yours is apart...
It'd be easy enough, and that's at least one less problem next time...
Plus, it can't be good whacking away with a sledge.
Just a thought.
DVO

 

[wibby]

Wibby, that sounds like a great price! How much was each one of them? Is the bearing driver set metric or standard?

$39 for the press and $15 for the bearing driver set. It's standard but I don't think it matters much, I found one driver in the set perfectly sized for the shock bearing

 

[JasonWho]

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[wibby]

... poured out needle bearing needles when I took the parts off!

Cool I'd say it has potential then!:laugh:


BTW thought I'd just add this bit of info: When removing the air bleed screw on the shock, to drain the oil, either don't wear your favorite yellow shirt and your new $90 dollar Rocky romeos or point the darn thing away from you! :whiner: What a mess

 

[canyncarvr]

Carefully consider these zerking ideas. I've read the above one several times and I'm still not sure how grease is getting anywhere is should be. There is no mention of sleeves and what was done, and the bearings don't seize to the swingarm anyway. It's the pivot bolt getting stuck that's commonly the problem...and it hadn't better be riding on the bearings!

If you go from the inside-out (grease applied to the pivot bolt), you need to deal with the sleeves. That's problematic.

If you go from the outside-in (fitting in swingarm), that's a simpler idea. On the oem config (H model anyway..not wibby's necessarily) there are two bearings on each side....so a zerk inbetween the two (one on each side) would get grease in the general vicinity. BUT when it comes time to replace the bearings, common aftermarket parts (pivotworks for one) come with only one longer bearing for each side.

Point is that some folks ideas of great zerk ideas don't accomplish diddle.

p.s.
re: favorite yellow shirts
Maybe all that pressure you thought was out weren't, 'eh?

 

[Houndog]

When I zerked my swingarm bolt (tube), I used a dremel tool and a small cut off wheel to make a slot in the middle of the sleeve (between the bearings). It seems to work fine, I installed the bearings dry, zerked it, removed eveything to check it (it was fine) and then I installed everything again (pre greased to be sure).

 

[DVO]

CC: My mistake, I meant the pivot bolt (not the s-arm) to be zerked and cross drilled. Sorry for the confusion. Like I said, I don't recall who it was that did it but at one time there was link to a pictorial on the procedure. The guy had also bored through the inner sleeve to allow grease to reach the bearings(needed some special cobalt-something-or-other drill bit to do that). Personally I wouldn't bore through the sleeve to grease the bearings, it's easier to just zerk the s-arm as you'd mentioned and get the grease exactly where you want it, not just in the "general vicinity". That's what I did and it works like a charm, better than I'd hoped.
As far as accomplishing diddle, you might wanna try it first and see for yourself. Read again what Wibby went through just getting the damned thing out. What's it worth to avoid that?
Would it change your mind if I called 'em nipples?
DVO

 

[JasonWho]

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[canyncarvr]

re: '...you might wanna try it first and see for yourself.'

I am nonplussed as to where my english failed. I'll restate with annotation:

'...some folks ideas of great zerk ideas¹ don't accomplish diddleº.

¹ Stated ideas are not thought through and indeed don't work. They do not apply grease as required to where it is required.

º 'Diddle' in this instance meaning it's a waste of time and accomplishes little.

I have no question that properly applied grease through a fitting will lessen if not prevent bearing/sleeve damage (injury to seals notwithstanding). It's the 'properly applied' part that I take issue with. For example, a drilled pivot bolt with matching holes in the sleeves may well get grease to the SA bearings, but not likely to the pivot bolt/sleeve (metal to metal) connection. Things may well still get sticky. Grease will follow the path of least resistance...it will not 'go everywhere'.

re: 'I'll bet CC ...'

Sorry, but no. :( To find out if mine still 'looked great' after 300 miles, I'd be taking the mess apart every few weeks. I don't. More like every four months.

Indeed, I just serviced the shock linkage last night (it's been about six months). Of course the lower shock mount bearing/sleeve was next to useless. It certainly was providing little to no roller bearing action.

I gotta get a bushing for that unitrack hole.....

I'm not taking exception to the process as a whole. Just to when the application of the idea isn't thought out too well.

I've got a pile of fittings and a tap sitting in my toolbox for some reason! ;)

 

[tedkxkdx]

When you say "get at bushing for the unitrak hole" are you referring to the new plastics that are being used for bushings. A company here in England sells what ever you need and say that they won't break down like old plastic bushings did. I have often thought that the shock bearing could be replaced since after the bearing gets rusty it ends up having the rotation occur on the bolt to sleeve instead of bearing to sleeve. I guess I need to do my entire swingarm assembly and report back in the forum on this issue.