Yet another axle bolt thread

[SandGeek]

I blew 2nd gear in my 400ex. I got a new tranny but to put it in I have the get the engine out.....the first bolt...the axle bolt.

I heated and beat cussed...no luck. I figure screw it, I will drill it out....I have drilled both sides but now I got nothing to grab and the thing just spins.

There is not much external to work with anymore and its still in there.

Any ideas? Its a +4 LoneStar swinger, otherwise I would hack it an replace it. I am stuck.

sg

[hornetgod13]

Are you talking about the swingarm bolt?

Have you tried the search feature on the website? There are literally hundreds of threads on frozen swingarm bolts in the 400EX forum alone. A lot of the threads have helpful advice on how to remove them. Best of luck to you!

[bigredisb]

Maybe I don't understand, is the head of the bolt still attached? I just did one on a 2002 and I welded a bolt that attaches to my slide hammer I then give it a whack a couple of times, rotate the bolt whack it again a couple of times and it slid out. The only risk is breaking a good motor case.

[SandGeek]

Well, thats actually the problem. Yes it is the swing arm bolt. I had vise grips holding the head while i drilled it. I got it thin enough that the head popped off. I now have nothing sticking out of either side of the frame to grab onto and the bolt spins if I try to drill it.

I haven't drilled deep enough to get to the engine case.

Thought about a sawzall, the the swinger has a cross bar thats close to the pivots so I can't get a blade in there.

I am kind of stuck.

sg

[MrWetodd42]

My third gear just went out on me a few weeks ago and i had the same exact issue with my swingarm bolt. I cut off the head and beat on it for hours. There is a spacer between case and the swingarm on the right side of the engine that i had to basically burn off entirely. But get a torch, remove your rear shock and sit the frame on the floor. Melt the spacer off and beat the bolt out towards the shifter and keep cuttin off the spacer. Luckily the bolt itself is made of a stronger metal than the spacer.
Once again an old school oxy ace torch saves the day.

[Gibson]

i got lucky with my swingarm bolt when i had to take it out, i only had to beat on it for about 20 minutes with a 5 lb. sledge hammer and another bolt. but whenever you go to re install it make sure u put some grease where the bolt goes through the engine and it wont seize up anymore

[SandGeek]

I WIN!...well it kicked my *** first.

I used a wood wedge to spread the frame and sawzall the ends off. I then pulled the engine, swingarm and all (that sucksed). I beat the swing arm to one side a little and zip the inside of the bolt, then I beat it back and zipped the other inside.

toasted the swingarm bearings but I would have replaced those anyway.

[hornetgod13]

Congratulations! I love a happy ending. Good Job!