seized swingarm shaft issue

[black]

Bought a used 93 KDX200.
went about doing some due diligence on it( new chain/ sprockets etc)
Cleaned out rear wheel bearing, decided to replace them as they were rusted/ pitted.
Decided the swing arm needed some attention to be safe.
Took off the swing arm shaft nut and proceeded to to try to slide the shaft. Nothing. It spun by putting a ratchet to the bolt head( but was tight/ could feel resistance) Shaft would spin and spin but would not back out horzintally. Buddy said more than likely major corrosion to the races? or possibly bearings and thus wont let the shaft back out, if that makes sense.
Right now its on it side with penetrating oil. Will let it sit overnight or a couple days then try to basically sledgehammer it out.

Thoughts? if that doesnt work? or other approaches? thought about using a sawzall to cut the shaft but dont have a lot of space on one side unless I take the engine out.

Heat to the frame or swing arm? not a big fan of that as I've never done it. Dont have that type of heat ( other than a small MAP torch) and dont liek the idea of heating the frame maybe possibly weakening it( i guess?)

[Tekime]

My guess would be rust/corrosion too. The fact it turns a bit might be a good sign..

I'd probably go with penetrating oil/PB blaster on each side and some solid but cautious whacks with a sledge a few times a day and see if it starts to move a bit after a while. If it starts to give a little you can get some more oil in there and might come out with a good pounding eventually.

Heat would help and I know some people would just roast it but not sure if it'd be wise on that particular bike, if you could even get heat in the right places. I'd do some google research before that point personally.

[black]

lol... took of the linkage off the rear shock and the races came pouring out. But even better.... the bolt on the shock linakge is corroded on there too...

Fun times. ebay swingarm and shaft is 30$.. much rather just cut it off some how.

[Tekime]

Oh man, yeah $30 is a small price to avoid the agony haha. Still need to beat it out of the frame though right?

[black]

found this..... i'm cuttting the fucker off.
not worth the aggravation I think. Bonus might be that the races are in better shape.

KDX200 Seized swingarm pivot and suspension linkage

[RandyO]

rather than a sledge hammer, I would use a hammer head bit on an air chisel, it would vibrate the shaft letting the penetrating oil work better

[Tekime]

Damn good luck

My bro has been trying to get the swing shaft out of a big bear for like 3 weeks lol. Threaded. Has a damn Allen head, which snapped off in the bolt. Last I heard they welded a nut to it this week. Basically they sunk it then let it sit for a season, nothing like leaving your bike dirty to invite hell on the next guy who services it

[gregp]

Yes - The inner races of the needle bearings are rusted solid to that bolt. This is very common. Nothing but brute force, or heavy vibration in the right direction will get it out. The air chisel, with a driving punch is the preferred method.
I have laid bikes on their sides, and used a punch with a sledge hammer to get them moving (You will need a new bolt when you are done, and you have to keep an eye on it, so as to not mushroom the end so much that it will no longer fit through the hole). Working them back and forth will have them out pretty quickly, after they move the first few millimeters.

[Stromper]

Try to spin on the nut just far enough and leave a gap, then wail away

[breakdirt916]

found this..... i'm cuttting the fucker off.
not worth the aggravation I think. Bonus might be that the races are in better shape.

KDX200 Seized swingarm pivot and suspension linkage

"how do these bearings look?...good to keep them as spares..."

[black]

Seized Swingarm shaft is off!!!!

Decided to cut it off, as I bought a ebay swingarm and shaft for 40$ shipped in better shape as well.
Chopped of the swingarm with grinder then chisel the rest of the swingarm off that was around the shaft. ( that took about 2 hrs, left was easy. Right was harder, had to pull off the airbox, rear shock and move some other bits around.

With the sing arm i also took of the the bearing sleeves leavign the swing arm and sleeves around the shaft.
Shaft could rotate, the left sleeve would rotate around the shaft but the right one was the sleeve that was seized to the shaft.

PS did i say the linkage bolt was seized as well? I had to grind that off as well.


So the right sleeve was seized to shaft and was way to close to the case cover for a sawz all. Headed to Home depot and bought some cutting wheels for the dremel ( 20 pack) and some larger cutting wheels for the dremel with a EZ attachment. also bought MAPP and right angle cutting attachment for the dremel.

Headed home and did a test cut with the Dremel. Success!!!! So i put to the dremel to the shaft. Took some time and went 3 generic cutting wheels, then upgraded to the EZ attachment and larger wheel, I had to go real slow with this. or else they would break easier. But cutting into shaft, rotating the shaft, cutting the other side. o made my way around and it fell out. Pushed through the shaft and I'm now seized free!!

Just need to pit her back together and i"m set. took about 4 hours with taking items off and cutting. and about 50$ for material (diable carbide saw blade, the right angle attachment for the dremel, cutting wheels, cold chisel.)
I'd rather have done it this way vs pb blaster heat etc. due to time constraints. Headed to Maine next week for 4 days dirt riding.

[Tekime]

Awesome. Can't count the number of times my Dremel has gotten me out of a pinch.

[breakdirt916]

dang!

sometimes I get frustrated w' how stuff is always seized or broken on old dirt bikes...but then I'm okay with it because the low demand for parts on fleabay makes it a buyer's market...you can't beat $40!