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DT175MX Refurbishing the swinging arm


NE0
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hi folks

Whilst the frame had been powder coated for some reason the swinging arm was just painted and now its all coming off.

I decided then to reburbish my Dt's swinging arm so i've removed it for a proper clean and respray.

However, now its detached i think i've discovered why it was never powder coated along with the frame.....the monoshock appears to be well and truly joined at the hip...so to speak! it won't budge.

The haynes shows the joining pin as a shaft which should just drift out.

I've soaked the pivot in Plus Gas overnight and tried gentle tapping, and I've tried a bit of heat from the 'ol blow lamp and i've tried a bit of brute..not Brut33 mind you!! perhaps I should pour that on it!!

I'm fully aware not to burr over the pin otherwise it won't drift out ...but any ideas are welcome....

dtswing.jpg

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hi folks

Whilst the frame had been stove enabled for some reason the swinging arm was just painted and now its all coming off.

I decided then to reburbish my Dt's swinging arm so i've removed it for a proper clean and respray.

However, now its detached i think i've discovered why it was never stoved along with the frame.....the monoshock appears to be well and truly joined at the hip...so to speak! it won't budge.

The haynes shows the joining pin as a shaft which should just drift out.

I've soaked the pivot in Plus Gas overnight and tried gentle tapping, and I've tried a bit of heat from the 'ol blow lamp and i've tried a bit of brute..not Brut33 mind you!! perhaps I should pour that on it!!

I'm fully aware not to burr over the pin otherwise it won't drift out ...but any ideas are welcome....

dtswing.jpg

Ne0, you say you've tried to heat the pin, but after heating have you tried to 'shock'and make the bolt contract, straight after with freeze spray, (I use Loctite freeze spray), I also had same problem with my swing arm pivot bolt, I had to cut that out, and after soaking for 3-4 days with coca cola, it took 3 mins to come out,

Failing all this, is there enough room to get a 1.5mm thin cutting disk on it? you may have to sacrifice your rear shock mind, if you can't get the remains of the bolt out, afterwards, the burr shouldn't be that much of a problem, a good drift should get that out, it's more difficult when the heat from the cutting disk has seemed to have welded/brazed it all together so to speak.

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If all else fails you will have to saw it off and then drift it later, note there are special washers either side with integral plastic seals...these are unavailable now so just warning you...heat will damage them. It happened to mine many years ago so I fitted a new pin and a grease nipple in the centre of the shock bush

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There are 2 flats on the head of the pin...get some help to try drifting it out you will need someone to hold it steady. Place the flats between the jaws of a strong vise but dont tighten onto it, this will support the swing arm.

heres my nipple...well one of em !

100_0610.jpg

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well its out....

I tried a bit more local heat then sprayed it with pipe freezer...did that a few times. no luck.

tried a bit more brute.....and a brass drift.....no luck.

resorted to putting a hack saw through either side of the shock. that removed the shock.

Then with a sawn off bolt, a socket, and the vice, I pressed out the offending ends.

One side came out with a lot of force on the vice, the other side.....well no way was that going to budge

on any of the above methods, I couldn't budge it, put an extension on the vice handle and tightened it

then just when i thought I couldn't muster any more strength...BANG! the loud crack of steel and it moved about 4 mm...thats all, after that I just pressed it out in the vice.

Paul, there wasn't any special washers either side, just a pair of thin metal flat washers, same diameter as the shaft , no nylon I can only assume the originals were long gone..

Any ideas on a replacement shaft?

dtswing2.jpg

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well its out....

I tried a bit more local heat then sprayed it with pipe freezer...did that a few times. no luck.

tried a bit more brute.....and a brass drift.....no luck.

resorted to putting a hack saw through either side of the shock. that removed the shock.

Then with a sawn off bolt, a socket, and the vice, I pressed out the offending ends.

One side came out with a lot of force on the vice, the other side.....well no way was that going to budge

on any of the above methods, I couldn't budge it, put an extension on the vice handle and tightened it

then just when i thought I couldn't muster any more strength...BANG! the loud crack of steel and it moved about 4 mm...thats all, after that I just pressed it out in the vice.

Paul, there wasn't any special washers either side, just a pair of thin metal flat washers, same diameter as the shaft , no nylon I can only assume the originals were long gone..

Any ideas on a replacement shaft?

dtswing2.jpg

Yambits? you can find their number on Ebay, I know their early swingarm bushes and bearings are a decent price.

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I'm currently having the swinging arm and some minor parts powder coated to match the frame, I've got new swinging arm bushes and bolts along with new bearings for the wheels and nice new brake shoes. Hopefully have all the parts back by early next week....

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Latest news...the company who's doing the powder coating has mislaid the parts with someonelses order!

When i phoned they asked which parts did I bring to them and could i describe them!

They took some notes and said they would phone back...that was yesterday, today no phone calls!

I'm not over concerned (at present) afterall they have had a finite number of parts since last week and a finite number of customers.

Shouldn't be too dificult to trace the parts....one hopes!

Plus I guess someone else may be wondering why the swinging arm for a DT175 doesn't fit their Harley!!

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Good news, all the parts are back at home and all looking the dogsdangly bits in gloss black.

5 parts in all:- swinging arm, chain bracket and tensioner arm, sidestand and brake pedal.

£50 the lot. Just waiting on a new chain roller to arrive and I can put it all back together.

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Good news, all the parts are back at home and all looking the dogsdangly bits in gloss black.

5 parts in all:- swinging arm, chain bracket and tensioner arm, sidestand and brake pedal.

£50 the lot. Just waiting on a new chain roller to arrive and I can put it all back together.

I devised an improvement on the tensioner arm, the original setup tends to wear down the arm and spring, flattening the spring and wearing grooves in the arm.

201_1815.jpg

the gap between the spring and arm in in my opinion a little excessive

201_1816.jpg

so i found a bit of thin wall stainless pipe and cut it to size, a wrap of tape on the arm made it a nice tight fit

201_1821.jpg

201_1822.jpg

The finished article and another improvement, a grease nipple to lube the pivot bolt

201_1892.jpg

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heres my nipple...well one of em !

a grease nipple to lube the pivot bolt

You like your nipples don't you Paul... lol

I think I need to adopt your improvement to the tensioner arm, not sure where I can get a bit of stainless tube though!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well good news folks the new chain rollers arrived to go on the nice new swinging arm,

I'll shall be busy this weekend putting all back together....hopefully.

Any news on the stainless tube Paul?

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  • 2 weeks later...

The good news is ALL the parts are now here (Thanks to Paul :thumb: for the S/S tube) and the swinging arm is now back on along with the rear wheel.

The bad news, and don't ask me why! but for some MAD reason i decided to strip down the engine and replace all the seals and bearings!

The receipts I got with the bike show it had a rebore and seals replaced around 5000 miles ago BUT that was over 20 years ago,

so whilst they might not be worn that much I think the seals may have become hard and brittle over time and I want it to be reliable for the forth coming winter, so i made a decision and its now it's being reverse engineered!.....full strip down :D .........its now in bits and waiting on more parts! doh!

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.......

The bad news, and don't ask me why! but for some MAD reason i decided to strip down the engine and replace all the seals and bearings!

The receipts I got with the bike show it had a rebore and seals replaced around 5000 miles ago BUT that was over 20 years ago,

so whilst they might not be worn that much I think the seals may have become hard and brittle over time and I want it to be reliable for the forth coming winter, so i made a decision and its now it's being reverse engineered!.....full strip down :D .........its now in bits and waiting on more parts! doh!

Its a shame you didnt ask NEO you could have had the option of testing your bike with my specially made leak-down tester and saved the bother if was good

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Very kind of you OG, and I might well have taken you up on the offer if the seals were only a few years old, however, 20 year old seals won't last forever, and perhaps prevention is better than cure.

I do recall, back in the late 70's, a neighbour who used to replace all the hoses on every 2nd hand car he purchased, and he never had any problems with leaks and coolant loss (something which many cars had back then) years later he went on to replace the cam belt on his new cars to reduce the risk of future problems and be reassured that the parts were new and fitted correctly, so perhaps a little of his philosophy has rubbed off on me!

The latest news is all the engine parts have now arrived...just got to pick them up from the post office as i was at work when they arrived.

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I do recall, back in the late 70's, a neighbour who used to replace all the hoses on every 2nd hand car he purchased, and he never had any problems with leaks and coolant loss (something which many cars had back then) years later he went on to replace the cam belt on his new cars to reduce the risk of future problems and be reassured that the parts were new and fitted correctly, so perhaps a little of his philosophy has rubbed off on me!

I knew a fellow like that, he monitored the fuel consumption on his car from the very first tank, when the figure changed significantly for the worse by say 10% and servicing made no odds, he sold it.

As far as i know he has never sufferd a preventable brakedown of any kind bar punctures.

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  • 1 month later...

All powder coated and back together, along with new rings bearings and seals in the engine.
All fixings replaced with stainless steel ones.

I even made a new swinging arm pivot bolt from an M10 stainless bolt and put a hole in the side for the split pin.
Whilst the special washers with the seals might not be available i simply reused the old bottom swinging arm ones, afterall the seals were still relatively intact and they fitted a treat on the new bolt. Remember they were missing before i took it apart so replacing them with something is better than nothing!!

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