Swingarm bearing removal

[chris900divvy]

I've got a swingarm I want to strip the bearings from and clean up then paint with view to replacing mine. The needle bearings for the linkage connection are in a bad way, rusted up and have left the outer parts in the arm. Is there an easy way of getting them out? Also want to get the races out the front so I can change those at the same time.

[m40man]

Sept 2, 2017 15:44:18 GMT chris900divvy said:

Is there an easy way of getting them out?

Short answer is no. You can try plenty of heat interspersed with moments of heavy implement wielding. In my experience (twice having done this, once easy, once less-so) I felt that application of lubricants didn't make much difference, but I guess it does no harm, if you want to combine that too.

Something I haven't tried is making a brace with a threaded rod (summat like a car brake cylinder tool) in an attempt to 'wind-up' the pressure on the errant parts & force them out. (I didn't have a suitable means to hold the parts to make it do-able.)

[chris900divvy]

Thanks Martin don't have any welding kit but tried some heat and plus gas, problem is the needle bearings underneath for the linkage have broken up with very little there to strike - I read something about attacking the bearings with a centre punch and chisel and folding them in on themselves so they free up but pretty slow work and don't really want to completely knacker the remaining metal of the swingarm! Managed to remove one of the front bearing races but the other's a bit blind so I can't easily knock it out. Its a pretty ratty old swingarm I picked up for not a lot of money but thought I could tidy it up maybe even get it blasted and coated or something.

[bobh]

Grind it out with a Dremel?


Aldi have some Dremel-alikes at the moment for about £15, btw.

[chris900divvy]

A friend with a very well equipped workshop helped me to get them out in the end! Drilled the top of the swingarm to get a long drift through from the shaft side and with a bit of heat to break the rust the front race came out with a bit of a fight breaking up eventually. The linkage rod bearings underneath were tough too, she turned down a solid rod on the lathe so it was just big enough to catch the remains of the needle bearing cages and a very tight fit eventually they both got driven out following much beating...Took a few hours, but just shows how much easier possessing some engineering skills and a well equipped workshop at home can make it(I have none of these!)! Have to decide how to strip and repaint it all now before some new bearings.

[CD]

I gave up on the linkage needle rollers and bought a used one from ebay. These days however I'd have to persevere. Dremel is probably the only option to slot the outer race then bend it inwards with a drift/wedge. Before fitting new bearings drill out the centre rib so you can get a drift in for the next time.

For the swing arm I drilled a hole and used a long drift to bash out the race. Quite easy doing it that way.

If the swing arm is rusty, get it grit blasted and zinc metal sprayed. Its not costly to have done and solves the rust problems.