Did I mess up on my swing arm bushing install??

CalsXS2

CalsXS2

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So I got the TC Bros bronze bushing's for my 72. When I installed them, it seemed like they did go in all the way. But I have roughly,,, with out measuring,,, about a 1/16" gap between the swing arm and the bushing shoulder, on each side.

Now I did hammer them in with a rubber mallet while the other side of the swing arm was supported on a 2x4.

Is there supposed to be a gap.

When I put the swing arm in the frame, it was loose side to side. So I used the shim's that was on the old set up. It was a tight fit then. I did have to tap the swing arm into the frame, with said mallet. :wink2:

With out the nut even being tightened, the swing arm would not fall on it's own. I can move it easy enough with my hand though. Do I have it in too much of a bind.

Also. The nut is a nylon lock nut. Are you supposed to be able to torque those down. Because I could not. It just kept spinning. Did I ruin the nut.

I really did not want to take everything back apart. But of course if I need to, I will. I did stumble across the grease fitting thread, and I kinda might want to do that.

So with all that being said. I'm worried that if I tear it all apart just to try and get the bushing's further in, I then may end up needing extra shim's. So Maybe I should leave it like it is.

Please advise,, or make fun of me,,,, lol. :D
 
sounds like the nut is ruined, hopefully the shaft is ok. The nut shouldn't be a nylock anyways. Get the proper part and torque it down. Get a free manual from www.biker.net for torque specs. Your bushing install sounds ok, the shims are doing what they are supposed to do.
 
Bushing swingarm set up sounds fine as long as you have fresh grease seals in there. Don't forget those. Nut is shot though. I would try a local motorcycle shop to see if they have anything nut wise

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The nylon lock nut is what came with the new replacement shaft/bolt from mikexs. The bolt thread's are full size and nut cut smaller than the bolt like the original. So it takes a different nut.

http://www.mikesxs.net/product/27-1071.html

I think I maybe not being clear about the nut spinning. I don't mean I can spin it freely with my finger's. I mean that when I put my clicker torque wrench on it, it just won't get tight enough to make the wrench click at 47 ft lb. Make sense.
 
I'm confused probably because I missed the boat somewhere
This nylon nut that you are speaking of, When you go to torque it it just keeps spinning? not finger loose but Won't tighten down? like its stripped?
 
Last edited:
Sonnylynnvick75 said:
I'm confused probably because I missed the boat somewhere
This nylon nut that you are speaking of, When you go to torque it it just keeps spinning? not finger loose but Won't tighten down? like its stripped?
Click to expand...


Yes... More ore less.

It will tighten. But it won't get tight enough to make the torque wrench click at 47 ft lb.

And this IS the nut that came with the new bolt from mikes.
 
What you need to check is if the pivot tube that fits through the bushings sticks out a little on each side. That's how it's supposed to be set up. When you tighten down the pivot bolt, it presses the frame in against the pivot tube and holds it stationary. Then the swingarm w/ bushings rotates around that. The tube has to stick out a little on each side of the arm for this to happen.

If the tube doesn't stick out, then there could be a couple things wrong. As WER said, the bushings may not be fully seated yet. Another possibility is that the flanges on the new bushings are too thick and may need to be filed down some. That problem has been reported a couple times.

The grease seals are also part of the spacing arrangement. If you stuck the arm in there without them, there would be a gap. Even with them, if you have a small gap still, it will be taken up when you tighten the pivot bolt. The frame will be drawn in.
 
weekendrider said:
Or you are still squeezing the bushings in and haven't reached torque yet.
Click to expand...

Correct. And the "shims" are probably the grease seals. The nut is steel, with a narrow nylon insert on the outside edge to keep it on - "Nylock".

Will the swing arm move up and down easily still? If so, keep tightening until you hit 50 lbs. or until the arm won't move. If not, leave it where it is for awhile. I had the same issue and was afraid it was stripping so I stopped, but the swing arm was very tight in the frame. It will go 50 easily now, so nothing was stripping. I don't know what you meant by a wrench on the other side, since the other end is supposed to be held by a tab on the frame. If you're worried about the accuracy of your torque wrench, try it on the front wheel nut.
 
BTW, since that's one of the few places that gets a lot of grease... I discovered a grease named "Magnalube" that's great. It has ptfe and is water and heat resistant. It's green. Over the winter part of my job was rebuilding big air cylinders and each kit came with a tube - about 500x the amount needed for the job, so I appropriated (pilfered) some of the unneeded tubes to experiment with.
 
Ok guy's. Here's what I've got. Remember, this is on my 72.

1. Tc Bros bronze bushing's.

2. New 70-73 swing arm bolt with Nylock nut from mikes.

3. new grease seals from mike's.

4. Thin shim's from original set up.

5. Pivot tube stollen from my Son's 79 bobber project. :wink2: I'm sure I read this was an upgrade for the 72.



When I put it together, it just seemed like the nut would just not reach 50 ft lb's. It just kept turning. Should a nylock be able to get that tight with out stripping.

I think maybe what is going on is I'm just not tightening it up tight enough. I thought the nylon went all the way through the nut. Not just the edge. I thought I was stripping it.

When I get home tonight I will re-torque it and see what happens.

I have to admit that I can't remember exactly where the pivot tube ended up. This is driving me crazy. :laugh: I'm fairly sure it is not sticking out the end's though.

I'll post back later. Thanks.
 
^That type of nut is all steel, the only difference is there's a nylon (or similar stuff) ring around the outer end of it to drag on the bolt threads; it's like built-in blue locktite. It should be able to get to 50 lbs without a problem. Yours might be different from what I know about, being such an early year.
 
CalsXS2 said:
Ok guy's. Here's what I've got. Remember, this is on my 72.

1. Tc Bros bronze bushing's.

2. New 70-73 swing arm bolt with Nylock nut from mikes.

3. new grease seals from mike's.

4. Thin shim's from original set up.

5. Pivot tube stollen from my Son's 79 bobber project. :wink2: I'm sure I read this was an upgrade for the 72.



When I put it together, it just seemed like the nut would just not reach 50 ft lb's. It just kept turning. Should a nylock be able to get that tight with out stripping.

I think maybe what is going on is I'm just not tightening it up tight enough. I thought the nylon went all the way through the nut. Not just the edge. I thought I was stripping it.

When I get home tonight I will re-torque it and see what happens.

I have to admit that I can't remember exactly where the pivot tube ended up. This is driving me crazy. :laugh: I'm fairly sure it is not sticking out the end's though.

I'll post back later. Thanks.
Click to expand...

If this is the case then you probably just haven't tightened it up enough and you're actually seating the bushings properly by tightening it up. The nylock nut is not nylon threaded but rather just a nylon ring on the outside edge that holds it tight. This is what all confused me. Just keep tightening on the dang thing.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong guy's.

But according to 5twin's, the tube need's to stick out past the bushing's. Right. So if I just keep tightening the nut with out setting the bushing's in farther, the bushing's will just go in as long as the tube. The tube will never stick out past the bushing's. Right.

Am I thinking of this right. :confused:
 

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