When I hacked through the bolt and removed the shock the remaining threaded stub screwed out very easily. No Loctite there. The seized bolt was entirely due to corrosion between the head of the bolt and the swinging arm.
On advice from derek: After refitting my new bolt, I covered the head & thread in copperslip then filled the hole completely with silicone. water cannot sit against the bolt head at all when on side stand. IF i ever need the bolt out again, I will just have to dig out the silicone.
what Derek said, mine also came out by hand after cutting the bolt, where as the head part required persuading with a large lump hammer no Locktite anywhere
Mine is scheduled to get it's 'boltrectomy' surgery tomorrow. Hope the patient will come out unscatched... and with a new rear shock installed.
An old thread but very useful indeed. Now I have the same problem and after trying all day long today to remove it it seems that I might need to cut the bolt as well. Did you use a standard reciprocating saw like the ones you can get from B&Q or Screwfix. Its so tight that I am afraid I might end up with 2 swingarms
An old thread but very useful. I find myself in the same situation and after trying all day long today to remove the bolt is seems that I have to cut it as well. Did you use a standard reciprocating saw like the ones you can get from Screwfix or B&Q? Is so tight that I am afraid I might end up with 2 swingarms
I've been prepping myself for this job, I'm sure it'll need to come out one day. From what I've read a multi tool is best, with a good quality, fine toothed, steel cutting blade. I think it'll take a while to do two cuts, one either side of the shock eye.
Success!! I used my heat gun around the bolt head area. I used a metal plate as a heat shield around the cable and cover the cable with a wet cloth. I kept the heat on for over 15 minutes, stopped and sprayed some penetrating oil on the bolt head and then more heat for a lot of time. Used a breaker bar. I heard a cracking noise, felt something moving then cracking noises - I was not sure whether the bolt snapped or hex bit broke or something else. Persevered as I had nothing to loose and after a few more cracking noises the bloody thing came out. Bolt looks good! All out now but the cables routing is a pain. Love this bike but working on it needs the patience of saint. @nelly - used your suggestion first and kept @Derek as the final solution.
Here’s a very interesting topic as I have the same issue on my wife’s 2011 M796. I have a beautiful Ohlins DU737 waiting to replace the OEM washed out shock (bike has 40.000 miles) and for the life of me, I can’t remove the lower bolt… So I too will plan: A/ heat gun B/ cutting it of…
Shock sent to T-Tech Suspension for repair Shock repaired and returned to me very quickly - actually was repaired during the weekend (received by T-Tech on Friday and back to me on Tuesday) - excellent service and great communication by Luke, T-Tech. The shock, although no external leaks, it was well damaged inside. The following were put right:- Internal damage to the piston, base valve, pitted shaft and lower bearing corroded New aluminium piston ( upgrade with stabilising ring ).. Shaft rod hard chrome plating. Gas cap with nitrogen port. Bearing. Shock put back on bike making sure things don't seize up again - Set shock to default values and rode a couple of hundred miles during the weekend for a good test. It feels like a brand new shock. The final repair cost was a lot higher than T-Tech's standard rebuilt cost but considering the price for a new one and parts used on mine it was reasonable. Do I recommend T-Tech? Yes I do!
I tried head and shock freeze but I only have a heat gun so it made little difference. It took a good 4 whacks with the lump hammer to get the head out after. I ended up going the cutting it out route with a Bosche Multi Tool and metal carbide blade. Wasn't so bad, took around 10 minute per side as I kept stopping to check. Just cut through the aluminum bushes as close to the shock as you dare.
