sledge hammer or patience

nb1914

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just after some confidence boost, trying to get rear swinging arm pivot bolt out. It aint budging after some pretty hard whacks and bouncing of the swing arm. Do i just go for it and up the ainty on the brute force, soaked all in wd40 but still nothing !!
 
I feel your pain. I had to take a sawzall to mine and get a replacement. Hopefully someone has an easier solution.
 
First, I'd switch to a real penetrating oil. WD40 isn't really that good for something like this. Many of us here in the States use PB Blaster, don't know if you have it over there though. Then, after more soaking with some better stuff, I'd add some heat to the mix. You don't need a torch or open flame, a heat gun works well enough. Yes, a BFH is key. Have the nut threaded part way on the pivot shaft so you don't mushroom the end but still use a block of hardwood between it and the hammer. If it does start to move out for you, drive it back in, then out, in, etc. to work it loose.
 
After prolly 20 swingarm removals, for the few that are real SOBs, you need to get solid support for the frame as close to the pivot bolt head (LH side) as possible. Easy; lay it over, solid wood block to the floor. A bit harder angle a wood block to a floor, wall joint or post. like 5T sez protect the thread, nut on backwards, a chunk of aluminum. And yes a slow smack with a sledge will do more than the fastest 12 oz hammer hit. As soon as it moves even a little add more rust buster whack it back IN, then out again, repeat any time it starts to bind on the way out. Once the head is clear of the welded tabs you can add twisting to your technique. Report how it goes? So far I have ruined a bolt or 2 with beating but haven't had to cut one out.
 
Sorry, wasn't diss'n yah! One of our Aussie Bros had to cut one apart also.

Got a brake backing plate from a Fla boneyard today it didn't LOOK bad, but man that corrosion goes deep!
 
Sorry, wasn't diss'n yah!

No diss taken. Funny part about it is I'm a 6'4" 250lb carpenter with 30 years in the trade. To say I'm comfortable with any hammer is an understatement. I couldn't get the thing to budge. It came out hard even after I cut it.
Now after that thread hijack back to your regularly scheduled programming.
 
Well, not quite .... I'm a 30+ year Union Iron Worker. BFH? I kinda know those, lol. But, in all these years I've discovered a hammer is not just a hammer. Yes, it is a simple tool but there are really good ones. After about 10 years in the trade I discovered Estwings, and have been using them ever since. I recently built up a bunch of Amazon.com points. I spent them all on 3 Estwing Ball Peen hammers. I already had ball peens in all shapes and sizes, but just plain jane wooden handled ones. These Estwings are a thing of beauty, bringing a smile to my face any time I use them. Yes, there are good, better, "deluxe" hammers. These are them.
 
Forget the brute force it may damage the frame, use diesel it is better than any WD40 and those snake oils they call penetrating fluid, it may take a few days of soaking but it will get there.
 
I don't think I've ever had a bolt, axle or pivot freeze in like the swing arm bolt on my 650. I really tried to get it out in reusable shape but that was not possible. After protecting the threads and using a block of wood and sledge I resorted to sledge only and deformed both ends of the bolt and then mangled it even more with a big punch before it finally came out. All is well now.

Scott
 
cheers all, well two hammers bust, neighbours complaining about the unique language. penetrating oil heated up and it aint moving at all, i will try diesel but i think a sledge hammer might have to come out. the pivot bolt is seized as when moving the swing arm up/down i can see the left side head of the bolt moving,bent back the welded tab a bit no biggy, i have taken both grease nipples off and pumped penetrating oil in. the frame looks very string i.e can take a well aimed BFH i think as mentioned earlier on its side with support around the pivot bolt then hit the hell out of it.
 
Hi nb1914,
try an equal parts mix of acetone and automatic transmission fluid.
It works as well or better than a propriatory penetrating oil and for the cost of a 6 oz can of the posh stuff you can mix up a quart of it.
And if penetrating oil, patience and a BFH don't work, drill the ends off.
Use a 1/2" plug-in power drill because the battery powered drills can't hack turning large diameter drill bits.
Use the pivot bolt grease nipple holes to centre the first drill bit, start with a 1/4" bit and work your way out in 1/8" steps to a 5/8" bit.
Sure beats chewing away with a Sawzall.
 
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Can you get a heavy friend to sit on the frame while you put a breaker bar on the pivot bolt? Might be easier than hammering to get it broken loose.
 
Can you get a heavy friend to sit on the frame while you put a breaker bar on the pivot bolt? Might be easier than hammering to get it broken loose.

Hi Drew,
how you gonna do that?
The swingarm bolt has a D-shaped head and a stopper block on the frame so you CAN'T turn it, no matter what.
 
ok seen as how its obvious that the whole bolt has been twisting whilst riding the welded stopper on the left had side was bent back so i removed it. this has allowed me to get an adjustable wrench on it as its not a D its a D with both sides flat, so i have now got the bolt to turn, its very solid but i can get a full turn so i think patience is now needed. sorting out the stop tag will be easy, but it looks like a need a new pivot bolt
 
ok seen as how its obvious that the whole bolt has been twisting whilst riding the welded stopper on the left had side was bent back so i removed it. this has allowed me to get an adjustable wrench on it as its not a D its a D with both sides flat, so i have now got the bolt to turn, its very solid but i can get a full turn so i think patience is now needed. sorting out the stop tag will be easy, but it looks like a need a new pivot bolt

Hi nb1914,
yeah, it's not a D-shape, it's two flats. Sorry, it's been a long time since I did mine.
It had the other problem, it's M14 threaded end fell off and the bolt fell out in the street.
At highway speed.
My son's dirt bike riding skills enabled him to keep the bike upright as it skidded to a stop with the locked up rear wheel leaving a 100' black line in the road.
The used replacement broke too, luckily I noticed it when it was only part way out.
The M14 ends break off because the high torque needed to tighten the bolt enough to lock the bearing sleeve in place plus the sharp transition from 16mm to 14mm just about guarantees a stress/fatigue failure.
Then I replaced it with a full M16 threaded end bolt from a Suzuki.
Which has a full hexagon head that I had to grind one of the flats deeper to fit the frame stop block.
And why you should get a full M16 threaded replacement throughbolt so it don't happen to you.
And if your throughbolt has twisted your frame stop block off I betcha it's rusted into the bearing sleeve and it's serious BFH time anyway.
 
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The problem is the bolt is rusted inside the pivot shaft which.... wait for it.....
is free to turn in the swing arm bushings. So turning the bolt doesn't get you much. :banghead:
 
The problem is the bolt is rusted inside the pivot shaft which.... wait for it.....
is free to turn in the swing arm bushings. So turning the bolt doesn't get you much. :banghead:

Hi Gary,
if the bolt is completely rusted inside the pivot shaft I don't reckon there's a BFH that's big enough to shift it.
So it'll be back to post #13 and drilling the bastard out of there.
 
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