help!!! cant remove swingarm bolt!

[ae13291]

hey guys, i was able to remove the nut holding the bolt, but i thought it would be a good idea to turn the bolt on the clutch cover side before i started hitting it with a hammer, and man the bolt will not even turn, i almost even stripped it. it is stuck in there real good! what are some other ways of removing it? could i also possbily heat it up to get it out?

[hornetgod13]

Try the search feature on this website. There are literally hundreds of froozen/help swingarm bolts froozen threads. It's a common issue on 400ex's. We've all been there. Good Luck!

[killer400ex]

i had the same problem on my ex, it was bent and cold welded inside, it was soo bad that i had to get an acetylene torch and cut it out, but i had to be very careful not to melt the eng. case or the swingarm, because both are aluminum. and even after cutting the bolt in half i had to put a impact wrench on the bolt side and run it while someone pounded on the bolt from the inside, i tried everything to get it out because my neighbor works for honda power sports and he used every bit of knowledge to get it out and he couldnt budge either end of the bolt, even after the nut was removed. these things do this alot, so make sure after it is removed that you grease the crap out of it so it dosnt happen again. but this was a last ditch effort to get my motor out for a re-build, and keep in mind that a new bold runs you about $60+ so dont get too crazy with it

[ae13291]

Originally posted by hornetgod13
Try the search feature on this website. There are literally hundreds of froozen/help swingarm bolts froozen threads. It's a common issue on 400ex's. We've all been there. Good Luck!

are you serious?? i have tried the damm search and i just cant find anything, im sure there is stuff but the damm search sucks with the minumum word thing. your comment was rally unnessacery!!

[ae13291]

Originally posted by killer400ex
i had the same problem on my ex, it was bent and cold welded inside, it was soo bad that i had to get an acetylene torch and cut it out, but i had to be very careful not to melt the eng. case or the swingarm, because both are aluminum. and even after cutting the bolt in half i had to put a impact wrench on the bolt side and run it while someone pounded on the bolt from the inside, i tried everything to get it out because my neighbor works for honda power sports and he used every bit of knowledge to get it out and he couldnt budge either end of the bolt, even after the nut was removed. these things do this alot, so make sure after it is removed that you grease the crap out of it so it dosnt happen again. but this was a last ditch effort to get my motor out for a re-build, and keep in mind that a new bold runs you about $60+ so dont get too crazy with it

o wow, i hope mine is not that bad, well wanted to remove it to atleast grease it an add some zert fittings. but i dont know i think im gonna have a damm hard time removeing the damm bolt

[400exrider720]

I posted some pics on here a while ago of mine. I ran into the same problem. I ended up gutting mine out with a rotozip. It isn't worth your time. Just cut it. The new bolt with the bearings is like $40-$50.

[ae13291]

Originally posted by 400exrider720
I posted some pics on here a while ago of mine. I ran into the same problem. I ended up gutting mine out with a rotozip. It isn't worth your time. Just cut it. The new bolt with the bearings is like $40-$50.

well i think at this point i am just going to leave it alone, i wanted to pull it out to grease it up and add some zerks but this seems a bit tough

[killer400ex]

keep in mind that "just cut it" isnt as easy as it seems, lol it took us about 2 weeks of 3 hours a day to get it out lol, and even after cutting the bolt it took a few days to pop it out, what a *****, after a while i had a solid steel rod on the bolt and a 10 lb sledge hammer, me and my dad were taking turns hitting it soo hard that it would slide sideways in the garage, lol yeah, didnt budge at all

[ae13291]

oh wow,i really dident think it was going to be tis bad. well atleast the bolt s not fully stripped and i dident damage anything. so im just going to leave it alone. but i was thinking, if i heated up the bolt to break some rust free, would that work? or if i run the engine till its really hot ad try to freeze the bolt?

[400Trooper]

ae13291 - Go buy some "liquid wrench" from the auto parts store. When you get back spray every place along where that bolt runs through very well, then go away and let it sit overnight. Do it again, then let it sit. 2 days of soaking should penetrate all the crap holding that bolt in.

I still turned my quad on it's side and used a 5lb sledge / 3/8" punch and had to put some muscle on it, but it did come out! Also go buy a new bolt and grease the h3ll out of it before you install it!

I personally remove mine once a month and regrease it just to be safe!! Once was enough for me!!!

I would not cut it, imo you're asking for trouble!

[ae13291]

Originally posted by 400Trooper
ae13291 - Go buy some "liquid wrench" from the auto parts store. When you get back spray every place along where that bolt runs through very well, then go away and let it sit overnight. Do it again, then let it sit. 2 days of soaking should penetrate all the crap holding that bolt in.

I still turned my quad on it's side and used a 5lb sledge / 3/8" punch and had to put some muscle on it, but it did come out! Also go buy a new bolt and grease the h3ll out of it before you install it!

I personally remove mine once a month and regrease it just to be safe!! Once was enough for me!!!

I would not cut it, imo you're asking for trouble!

ok that sounds great. i will get liquid wrench and i will also buy that freeze a bolt stuff, i will try and freeze the bolt and hopefully it will come out that way

but i dont even see any possible way to let it penetrate, what are some open points of the bolt

[rodeo#11]

I had a thread on this about a month ago. The only way i could get mine out was cutting it. I cut it into 4 pieces. then heated it up and it popped out just fine. Then i went on ebay and got the bolt and sleeves for 8$. Thats just how i did it if ya need anymore help just msg me.

[the Z Man]

I think he can't even get the bolt loose, it may not even be stuck, try an impact first, if that doesn't work, use heat, then the impact...

[hornetgod13]

Perhaps some of the inputs in these 30 threads will help you out. Like I said before, it's a common issue.

Follow this link.

http://www.exriders.com/vbb/search.php?s=&action=showresults&searchid=2044346&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending

[CK1999.400ex]

well when i had to remove mine it was because the swing arm broke .... not a good thing .... so i just broke my swing arm off of the bolt and heated up the bushungs with a torch ... till it came out .... now it has antisieze on it and comes out no problem ... i had mine out a few weeks ago and didnt have any problems ... so use the antisieze in it b4 u put it back together ....

[ae13291]

Originally posted by the Z Man
I think he can't even get the bolt loose, it may not even be stuck, try an impact first, if that doesn't work, use heat, then the impact...

i used like a 2 1/2 foot breaker bar and it still dident come loose, i was scared to strip the bolt or possibly snap it.

[ae13291]

Originally posted by hornetgod13
Perhaps some of the inputs in these 30 threads will help you out. Like I said before, it's a common issue.

Follow this link.

http://www.exriders.com/vbb/search.php?s=&action=showresults&searchid=2044346&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending

thanks, i will check em out

[CK1999.400ex]

if its stuck that bad then just try to cut it out but be careful not to damage the swing arm of the rear of the motor or the frame ...

[ngates788]

Originally posted by killer400ex
i had the same problem on my ex, it was bent and cold welded inside, it was soo bad that i had to get an acetylene torch and cut it out, but i had to be very careful not to melt the eng. case or the swingarm, because both are aluminum. and even after cutting the bolt in half i had to put a impact wrench on the bolt side and run it while someone pounded on the bolt from the inside, i tried everything to get it out because my neighbor works for honda power sports and he used every bit of knowledge to get it out and he couldnt budge either end of the bolt, even after the nut was removed. these things do this alot, so make sure after it is removed that you grease the crap out of it so it dosnt happen again. but this was a last ditch effort to get my motor out for a re-build, and keep in mind that a new bold runs you about $60+ so dont get too crazy with it

i got mine, both bolt and nut, for $40 from parts unlimited. i ended up beating mine out with a sledge and stripping the threads out and bending the crap out of it lol but it took me a good few hours of work to get it out finally! but yea never seize the crap out of it before you put it in and hopefully you wont have a problem in the future.

[ae13291]

i just said **** it and put the nut back on. maybe i might need to remove it one day but not now

[sc400ex_rider]

hornet that link is dead. ya im in the same boat, mines been stuck since i tried to get it out in 04 to grease it after seeing alot of stuck bolt threads. i figured i would leave it alone but its time. i really want to paint my frame. i really like the "put the quad on the side" method for 2 reasons 1 it unloads the weight off the swingarm, alot of people dont know this helps. and second when you spray it with penatrent it helps it soak in the cracks better than flat on the ground. ac/refrig tech's have a really good product called "rust buster" this stuff is really good. they use it on severley rusted fan blade set screws and motor shafts when they have to replace a motor. also it is possible to use the 450r pivot bolt. its the same length, uses the same nut but the ex one is 15MM diameter and the 450r is 14MM diameter. its also tapered smaller in the middle where it goes through the cases and cost $10 less new. the smaller dia. should make it alot less prone to seizing. and i think it being 1MM smaller would not create any major high stress area's in the swingarm bearings and now that i think about it you prob. could just use the 450r swing bearing collars to keep that snug but keep the benefit of the smaller dia. through the cases and the spacers where most of the problems come from. LOL ya i thought about this and yes i dont like doing things twice.

[Exrider434]

i'd reccomend being careful, what was planned to be a quick maintenance thing turned into a $200 project.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a302/Ridinred300/torch.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a302/Ridinred300/104_9782.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a302/Ridinred300/104_9779.jpg

[sc400ex_rider]

ya see in the pic its the spacer sleeves that cause all the problem. maybe my frame dont look so bad after all.