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Getting a DRZ swingarm bolt out - need help

sixtytwo

sixtytwo

meh.
Joined
Sep 30, 2007
Location
Palo Alto
Moto(s)
ratted out r6, drz sm, dr650, versys
Name
Yun
I'm trying to get the swingarm bolt out of my DRZ so I can get the motor out . The last thing I need to remove is this damn bolt - but it doesn't budge. at. all.

After doing some research, it looks like I'm far from alone. Apparently the bolt corroding to the inside of the engine case is really common, and the tips and tricks run the gamut of hours of pounding at it with a hammer, copious use of WD-40, and using this little contraption. I've tried all these things. Looks like the next thing is... cutting the bolt and swingarm with a sawzall? :wow

In any case, I'm pretty much out of ideas at this point. If anyone has any other ideas, or knows of a shop that can help me press the bolt out, I'd really appreciate it. The bike doesn't run (and is in a couple pieces) at this point, making it a tad more complicated.

Thanks!
 
I've heard a soak in diesel will undo this type of corrosion (I had an aluminum jet ski cylinder corroded on the stainless studs that I couldn't get off). I haven't tried it though.
 
Try PB Blaster instead of WD40. Let it sit for a day, or a week with multiple applications.
 
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Find some Kroil. Best stuff I've ever used. Soak it for a couple of days. Everytime you walk by it, hit it with a hammer a couple of times. Also try heat then cold. Heat it really hot then blast it with a can of freeze out. Try this a few times. Then heat the engine and freeze just the bolt. Set up a heat gun so its pointing at that part of the engine and let it run until you can't barely touch it then blast the bolt with freeze out. You can get freeze out at any good electronic supply store. I buy it online as Poop freeze from a pet supply place as it's the same stuff but cheaper. I've had stuck bolts literally fall out onto the floor using this technique.
 
I assume you are laying it on the side to allow the WD-40 to work in some?

Can you turn the bolt? Or does it not budge? If not, after some spray/soak cycles, use a good socket, long breaker bar to get it to spin. If it can't spin, you aren't going to be able to hammer it out.

Did you try that homemade puller? That looks like it would work great.
 
+1 on PB blaster or Kroil. wd40 doesn't do anything in this situation... it smells good, that's about it.

if you can heat just the case and not the bolt that's ideal.
 
Kroil. Or the liquid wrench stuff that actually freezes the bolt. If you don't have oxy/acetylene torches you arnt getting it hot enough. Be careful with them around aluminium or anything burnable. Then a real 1/2 in drive impact. Not a craftsman, husky....
 
I'm spraying the WD-40 into the gaps between the case and the swingarm and the frame. I'll give the Kroil/PB Blaster a try, since at this point it really doesn't seem like the WD-40 is doing anything at all.

The bolt doesn't turn at all. There are wrench flats on the other side of the bolt (right side of the frame) that prevent it from turning anyway, so torquing it out isn't really an option.
 
my personal favorite is using an air chisel if you have a compressor handy
 
Is the bolt threaded through the cases or is there a a nut on one end and the bolt has corroded in the case. Can you give a description of what is holding you back. Sounds to me like heat, lube, and an impact might be of some use. I don't know if you can beat the bolt out with a brass drift pin. Don't be afraid of heat, another trick is to heat up a bolt as hot as you dare then hit it with beeswax, rock the bolt back and forth.

Another tool in the arsenal is a mix of acetone and ATF. You want the acetone to carry the atf to the affected area. If all this fails move to the hasidic formula, a prayer to the gods, wait I meant acidic formula. Get some phosphoric acid aka rust dissolver, I have some "the must for rust" it is basically thin aluminum jelly and will dissolve the corrosion and get that sucker loose. Sounds like you are in round 5 of a 12 round fight.

Is it possible that something in the swingarm is binding the bolt? The guys right up didn't look like a corroded bolt, might be easier of you load the rear suspension a bit. A dowel pin will absorb too much of the shock of the impact use a brass drift and beat that sucker out, I have some beryllium copper drifts which are tits.
 
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ratsblast said:
Is the bolt threaded through the cases or is there a a nut on one end and the bolt has corroded in the case. Can you give a description of what is holding you back. Sounds to me like heat, lube, and an impact might be of some use. I don't know if you can beat the bolt out with a brass drift pin. Don't be afraid of heat, another trick is to heat up a bolt as hot as you dare then hit it with beeswax, rock the bolt back and forth.

Another tool in the arsenal is a mix of acetone and ATF. You want the acetone to carry the atf to the affected area. If all this fails move to the hasidic formula, a prayer to the gods, wait I meant acidic formula. Get some phosphoric acid aka rust dissolver, I have some "the must for rust" it is basically thin aluminum jelly and will dissolve the corrosion and get that sucker loose. Sounds like you are in round 5 of a 12 round fight.

Is it possible that something in the swingarm is binding the bolt? The guys right up didn't look like a corroded bolt, might be easier of you load the rear suspension a bit. A dowel pin will absorb too much of the shock of the impact use a brass drift and beat that sucker out, I have some beryllium copper drifts which are tits.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that the bolt isn't threaded through the cases - when it's been properly greased with anti-sieze, apparently it's supposed to slide right on through. The right side of the bolt has flats, and it fits into a slot on the frame, so there's no real way to twist it out. I've already gotten the nut off the left side of the bolt - that's the easy part :)

At the moment, I've built that threaded rod contraption - linked in one of the above posts - that goes through the swingarm and applies a pulling force. I'm using this rod as a drift, and hammering it with a 2 pound hammer every couple days, all while applying copious WD-40.

As for the bolt being binded - I've tried hammering it with the bike on a work stand, on the side stand, and laid on its side (although not for too long since the loose hoses started to leak residual oil). I'm uncertain that having any load on the swingarm actually matters at this point.

I'm going to buy some Kroil and a 5 pound hammer sometime this week and try harder. Couldn't imagine that getting a swingarm bolt out would be the hardest part of an engine rebuild... *so far anyway* :laughing
 
You need a real hammer. 2 lb hammers are for finish work. Lol. Seriously. 5 or 8 lb sledge or the back of an axe. With heat, and you will get it. Wd is a solvent and doesn't really penetrate.
 
Be careful with a hammer. You don't want to mushroom the end or make it any larger in diameter. You don't want to have to buy a new bolt either. PB blaster is good. Soaking it at every nook and cranny that will let the penetrating oil in as a great idea. That puller looks like a option that will work. You could use a slide hammer with the long treaded rod too. You would just have to figure out how to connect the two. The shock from the slide hammer may break it free easier than just pulling. If it is really stuck, but you get it moving, you can continue to lube and tap it back in to break up the corrosion, then pull again. Take you time, and don't make the problem worse.
 
If you hit it with a brass drift you don't gotta worry about beating the bolt. A piece of thin all thread a few double nuts and a round spacer and a weight, now we're talking. Gotta love the slide hammer, great suggestion.
 
Try some HOT olive oil, worked for me a few years ago.
 
Today, I went and got a 10 pound sledgehammer and started beating the hell out of the bolt using the threaded rod as a drift. IT FINALLY STARTED TO MOVE! Still got a bit of hammering to get it the rest of the way out but it seems like the relatively hard part is over - it's moving a couple mm every hammer blow now.

I also ordered some Kroil and now (hopefully) won't have a use for it... sooo... if anyone finds themselves in a similar situation I'll have some Kroil you can use :)
 
I usually put a socket extension on the end of the bolt, and then beat the thing with a dead-blow hammer until it comes out. I find a lot of times that the issue is weight on the shaft. Trying to take some weight off the assembly helps reduce friction on the bolt.
 
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