Gibson/east coast atv?

[mxpimp2000]

I KNOW THIS IS THE OPEN FORUM BUT I NEED SOME ANSWERS FAST. I NEVER GET HITS IN THE SUSPENSION THREADS. PLEASE DONT MOVE!

Anyone have experience with gibson long travel aarms? I have been using them for 2 seasons and ive been having alotta ball joint prbs. They use the sperhical bearings with king pins unline the regular style. Every since i put new ones in mine its been SOO hard to steer and ive soaked them in oil every time i wash it. Its been 2 years and they are still so tight i cant even use my precision stabilizer cause it would be point less.

anyone ever had this issue?

[Stiles86]

go on walshs website and copy there set up.... caster camber... thats what i did and my bike turns fine... if your ball joints move freely than its not them

[mxpimp2000]

the balljoint DOSENT move freely. They move great until i press them into the aarms.

[eastside 400]

take them out and sand the outside of the bearing down some, it is pushing in on the bearing too much when it gets pressed in.

[HondaPohl]

If you take eastsides advice and still have trouble, I would call Dave at eastcoast. I don't think he makes the parts anymore but Im sure he will help you out and answer your questions. He always helped me out.

[mxpimp2000]

I took a wire brush wheel on a drill and honed/cleaned the ball joint cup out and kinda done the bearing the same way but it being so hard of steel it wouldnt take any of the diameter off to make it fit any looser. Put it back together and its still tight as ever

[jrspawn]

did you get the com12t teflon lined bearings?

[eastside 400]

a wire wheel wont work, take a belt sander if you have one or you can do it with a grinder carefully. If the bearing is fine until you install it then that is 100% the problem, its common.

[SRH]

i hated my gibson arms they were barely better than my standard travel setup i had prior

[mxpimp2000]

Originally posted by jrspawn
did you get the com12t teflon lined bearings?

they are teflon lined yes its wat k&k sent me for $25 each :mad: :mad:

[eastside 400]

like i said, its not the bearing, its not the a-arm, its just the fit between the two. Machining tolerances arent the tightest with the bearings and everyone fits a little different from the last, i used to work at a a-arm manufacturer and every set was different, some had to have the cup reamed out while others were too loose.

[mxpimp2000]

Ive gone so far as putting the old balljoints back in the aarms and not much was effected but i cant really remember if they were this stiff when i got them used i didnt use them long until i had them re PCd and put new bushings in them.

ALSO: i cant tighten the lower aarm bolts very tight or they wont pivot. If i tighten them to spec my front end is crappy i can compress the shocks and they barley rebound. I can live with that and leave them slightly loose. but not with the steering being like turning a truck with no power steering.

[blaster99]

Eastside is correct. They are fitting too tight. I have had a set of Gibsons and that was the issue.

[mxpimp2000]

Originally posted by blaster99
Eastside is correct. They are fitting too tight. I have had a set of Gibsons and that was the issue.

and you did what to fix it?

[blaster99]

Just what he said. Sand the outsides of the bearings down on a belt sander, and also sanded where thy sit in the a-arm. It took forever to do by hand, but having a front end that turned great was well worth it.

[mxpimp2000]

not sure where i could find a belt sander beacause i dont have one and sure aint going to throw down a stack of $ just for this. But how you goin to get them perfectly sanded and not oval egg shaped by doin it by hand on a belt?

[blaster99]

I sanded mine by hand... it took forever. You have to make sure you are sanding evenly. You are only taking off a small amount of material. Sanding the actual a-arm will be easier than the bearing too.

[mxpimp2000]

Originally posted by blaster99
I sanded mine by hand... it took forever. You have to make sure you are sanding evenly. You are only taking off a small amount of material. Sanding the actual a-arm will be easier than the bearing too.

thats what i was saying about the wire brush wheel on a drill because its 1 of the very stiff ones and the drill barley turns it when its in the aarm cups. It cleaned them out fairly good but i didnt keep on it so nothing really was takn out but im sure it would if i kept at it