January 23, 201610 yr Femi is probably right but going to give it a go. Replaced bearings today but not fitted to bike yet. I am trying the bearings without seals so have 20mm long bearings in the links and two 15mm long in the knuckle joint. I will look into the bearings Femi is using next time perhaps but will try theese bronze ones for now as i have them already.
January 23, 201610 yr I also bought a cheap seal driver set. It is all aluminium and light duty but worked well and saved messing around searching for the right sized sockets.£11:95. Ebay item number261994327546.
January 23, 201610 yr The shock knuckle is the same on all Evo's 09 to 16 with the exception of the 13 Factory that had a different knuckle and a longer shock so I doubt this being the reason for movement in 2014 on bikes. That probably explains why I thought all the '14 onwards are different. I tested my '14 (and a few others) against a '13 Factory! All the '14's had a few mm of play at the end of the swinging arm. The '13 Factory didn't. The knuckle on the '14's (and I guess all the others with the same setup) tends to be set at it's tilting point, like it's at BDC. As I lift and drop the swinging arm I can see the bottom of the shock swing back and forth ever so slightly, which is where the play felt at the end of the swinging arm comes from. There's no play in any of the joints.
January 23, 201610 yr That could explain the movement, I see what you mean. I only found about the knuckle when I changed to a different shock on my 13 factory, I spent ages comparing part numbers on all the years to make sure I was ordering the right £90 knuckle!! I can't work out why they changed the 13 setup then changed back, Maybe a cost thing.
April 5, 201610 yr Author Finally got around to servicing my linkage. Disassembling went fine and i managed to grease the bearings. One bearing was muddy and dry. I didn't see any corrosion though. Re assembly is were things went to nightmarish. When I went to torque the lower dogbone to frame bolt to 30nm the wrench started spinning. I knew something was wrong but in a momentary lapse of reason(tired) I thought I would do the other side first and than comeback to the problem. Checked torque setting again and the right side did the same thing! Now panick set in and sure enough the flat heads of the special bolt fell to the ground. I had twisted the bolts right off the heads. I tried punching the bolts through but they would not budge. Ended up getting some 1/8 12" long drill bits bits and trying to drill an easy out in there. Had to grind off the top of the nuts first because of the locking tabs. After jury rigging the easy out and many hours of frustration I got the bolts out. Because of the limited space and angles you can't drill straight. I ended up walking a bit into the bolt which put a notch into the aluminum frame bolt eyes. Aaagggaaah! I'm not sure if I should be concerned about the notch. Its not a bearing surface, just an attachment point. Its probably a little weaker but lighter! My friend let me borrow his bolts and the metal looks a little different. Ended up checking my torque wrench against another one and it was spot on. 30nm does seem a little much for that special bolt. I torqued the new bolts down a few nm less. Exhausted OLD
April 7, 201610 yr Author What do you guys think about me filling in the 1/8 inch notch I accidentally drilled in the lower linkage attachment frame point. Should I try to fill it in with JBweld or nothing to worry about? Its on the inside of the hole where the special bolt goes thru. Old
September 6, 20169 yr Maybe someone can help me here I'm also in the process of linkage service but I dont get the old seals and bearings out of the bones. I tried with a bushing driver and also tried (sorry I dont know the right English word for it) an inner bearing puller with no success. Also a screwdriver to get out the old seals didnt work Using a vice make me wonder if the outer ring of the bone can handle the load trying to press out the bearings. I also applied heat with an hot air blower. Replacing the swingarm bearings was a 5 minute work but with the linkage makes me despair... thanks jan Edited September 6, 20169 yr by jasc
September 6, 20169 yr Use a propane torch for a minute on the outside of the dog bone, a bearing pusher or the correct size socket, shouldn't be a problem in the vice.
September 8, 20169 yr When putting the new ones in, put the bearings in the icebox for a few hours, then reheat the dogbones, they should slide in nicely.
September 12, 20169 yr The vice did the trick. Came out real easy and putting the new ones in was also easy. I feal really stupid now Thanks
August 13, 20188 yr Femi how are the bearings holding up now that you have had more time on them ?? Would you be kind enough to give us the part numbers you used ??? thanks Gordon
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