broke swingarm bolt

[WB450r]

i was doing my tear down yesterday and when i got to the swingarm i noticed the bolt was spinning on one side when i put a socket on it..sure enough when i got it out the swingarm bolt was broke in half..is this a common thing or has anybody ever done this

[DnB_racing]

how bad was the corrosion??? did it brake because it was worn don so much it was week? or do you have bearings that are seized on one side??

have you done any powder coating on your frame,or changed your wire harness??

if so you might have a bad ground. causing the bolt to oxidize which is a symptom of electrolysis caused when dissimilar metals of the pivot bolt are forced into the grounding system...

in this situation one part will act as a anode and one part as a cathode,
causing the softer metal to corrode, so if the issue isn't fixed and you just put a stainless bolt in it will start to corrode the motor instead of the bolt

[WB450r]

Originally posted by DnB_racing
how bad was the corrosion??? did it brake because it was worn don so much it was week? or do you have bearings that are seized on one side??

have you done any powder coating on your frame,or changed your wire harness??

if so you might have a bad ground. causing the bolt to oxidize which is a symptom of electrolysis caused when dissimilar metals of the pivot bolt are forced into the grounding system...

in this situation one part will act as a anode and one part as a cathode,
causing the softer metal to corrode, so if the issue isn't fixed and you just put a stainless bolt in it will start to corrode the motor instead of the bolt


the bearings are not seized and the bolt itself didnt look corroded jus dirty..frame was sanded and painted last year and as for the wire harness i took out wht was not needed such as lights..

[DnB_racing]

Originally posted by WB450r
the bearings are not seized and the bolt itself didnt look corroded jus dirty..frame was sanded and painted last year and as for the wire harness i took out wht was not needed such as lights.. did you remove any of the green wires ??

Honda's grounds are actually to small to handle the impedance so to rectify this they added more green wires,

dirt wont cause it to break pitting from electrolysis will tho

before reassembling make sure your grounds and motor mounts are as good as possible,(no paint in between connections to frame) and clean the sleeves and bearings real good and grease the pivot bolt with a good non conductive grease(dielectric) or equivalent

pivot bolts on quads with repainted frames and modified wire harness are more prone to this issue

every time you plug fires it needs a good ground or it will try to find the easiest path to ground,

if your mounts are all painted and the ground connections arnt clean the electricity will try to go through your pivot which is a terrible connection,

another way to fix without taking apart all your mounts is run a wire from block to coil ground this should clear up any problems

[WB450r]

Originally posted by DnB_racing
did you remove any of the green wires ??

Honda's grounds are actually to small to handle the impedance so to rectify this they added more green wires,

dirt wont cause it to break pitting from electrolysis will tho

before reassembling make sure your grounds and motor mounts are as good as possible,(no paint in between connections to frame) and clean the sleeves and bearings real good and grease the pivot bolt with a good non conductive grease(dielectric) or equivalent

pivot bolts on quads with repainted frames and modified wire harness are more prone to this issue

ok thanks for the info..i made sure last year that the motor mounts were clear from paint ill just have to do a better job this year including greasing etc..

[DnB_racing]

or run a seperate ground from your block to coil ground this should help

[desratt]

it is a fairly comon thing to break the bolt. baldwin and lonestar both offer stronger bolts.