Trouble removing swingarm bolt

[hectic_aussie]

Just to verify , cause mine doesnt wanna budge, I remove the nut from the right side and then the bolt should slide out right ?
Is there anything else holding that long bolt on there besides that one nut ?

cheers

 

[Suzuki_Don]

The only thing holding the swing arm bolt in place is the large nut on one end and the rust and corrosion that is causing the bolt to adhere to the spacers between the bolt and the needle/roller bearings pressed into the swing arm.

Do you have a large lump hammer?

.

 

[hampshirehog]

Worst case scenario is that you have to cut the swinger off with an angle grinder - been there in the past. But before you end up there try and get as much penetrating oil in there as possible and try turning the bolt both ways. Don's idea with the lump hammer is stage 2.

 

[jwhelan65]

Smack it good with a dead blow hammer, it will come out.

 

[Guest]

Hammer and a screwdriver or something else with a shaft smaller than the diameter of the swingarm axle in case you need to keep hammering all the way through.

When I first got my 450, the roller bearings were impacted into the swingarm and rusted and corroded and not an ounce of anything vaugely resembling lube in there.

I had to whack the axle out and then get a dealer to heat the swingarm up to get the bearing races out as I had no way to do it at the time.

I also had no camera back then so no pic's I'm afraid.

 

[Guest]

had this very same problem a month ago, used everything from penetrating oil to sledge hammers to gas blowtorches, but no movement ! ended up cutting s\arm off & drilling bolt out of each end. i ended up crushing my frame slightly with all the heat & hammering. my advice is hold another sledge hammer on the opposite side of frame near bolt when hammering to soak up blows.

 

[Billy Ricks]

The bolt is indeed frozen in the swingarm bushings. It may not do any good but you might try installing the nut again and torque it down. Then try loosening from the bolt side. Chances are the bushings will just spin but you might get lucky. If you get it out slather it up with a good grade of grease before assembling again.

 

[bobthebiker88]

use of a persuader is required in these kinds of events. I'd KILL for a magic potion that will simply make the whole thing come out like butter. wait, its called grease. shame nobody ever seems to realize you need to use it on swingarms... thank GOD mine has zerk fittings on both sides.

a 3lb persuader should handle the task. dead blow is too light and absorbs far too much energy in my eyes, iron on iron is the way to go.

 

[slapper]

I have had this problem, what i did was used a centre punch on the end of the bolt, its tough but just to get a tiny hole then i used a drill to drill an indent in the end then with a blunt steel bar use a good club hammer with the frame on its side if you put the nut on the end it can work but you increase the chance of damaging the threads, they are strong but only to a point. Adding heat can help in alot of cases but if you heat the swingarm and bolt too they will expand together but not at the same rate you might also find the spacer in the swing arm is rusted onto the bolt which will damage the bearings as the bolt comes out. Hope this helps and good luck.

 

[posplayr]

I'm wondering if this is a 2 cylinder or 4 cylinder swing arm bolt?

 

[tatu]

It depends on what tools are available to you, hammering is fine up to a point but not when other expensive stuff starts getting really damaged. loosen what you can, Plenty of penetrating fluid (I find brake fluid and plus gas is a good penetrant, wd40 is not so good at this kind of job) in every available place to get it every time you think of it days even before you actually do the job and if the hammer doesn't shift it then tension over a period, can you make up a strongback with thick threaded bars through the frame to press it?
Wind it up overnight and leave it. Then try heat.
I'm really sure it will move before needing to cut it.
As a last resort you could take a slitting disc and carefully cut the head off the bolt try pushing it the other way (though that is unlikely to work but worth a shot)
Failing all that strip the whole bike and take the frame to an engineering shop and they will press it out probably while you wait and there will be no damage.
It took more than five miniuts to seize the bolt in there and so it's not going to shift in miniuts getting it out.
Good luck.

 

[hectic_aussie]

Well it's still in there , I've been letting some wd-40 soak in for a while to see if that helps . Hammering didn't help , just wrecked the nut.

 

[tatu]

Does the bolt turn?
When I was very young a mate and I did this to a track bike. I don't recomend this method at all but it worked.
We used a long socket that fitted the bolt head and laid the bike over on something solid so that it was supported on the socket, chocked the bike so it didn't fall, More penetrating fluid over a long period you can't put too much, and twatted the threaded end with a 7lb sledge hammer. Admittedly we were removing a wheel spindle but the theory is the same.
A couple of mighty blows should do it.
A coupl'v three things first..
Remove tank, panels and easily damaged stuff, (we didn't, but then we didn't care)
Don't miss.
Don't go mad till its a mess, the bolt will be messed up for sure.
This is high risk but cheap, and I'm only telling you what we did as kids on a farm, I would go with one of the earlier suggestions.

 

[tatu]

Have you had any progress on this?

 

[spyug]

First off, WD40 is not a penetrant (where is Steve when you need him) so switch to something that is ( Liquid Wrench, Deep Creep etc), even ATF mixed with acetone.

In conjunction with the penetrating fluid apply lots of heat. A propane torch should be sufficient but for extra heat use Mapp gas. Heating the bolt head and thread end to "cherry" usually gets it. Once red hot apply a judicious tap of the "persuader" and it will come out.

Hopefully you can clean up and reuse the bolt but be sure to change the bearings as they will be junk. Its a good idea to use lots of grease when reassembling and I find adding a grease nipple to the swingarm tube is a good idea as you can then pack the interior with grease.

Hopefully you have it out by now.

Cheers,
spyug

 

[GS ace]

Locked Threads

Locked Threads

I recommend using Kroil or the acetone/atf mixture combined with a good amount of time. If that doesn't work, then escalate your efforts to a lot of force or flame.