Triumphrat

rminchi

I'm looking for some help from the collective...

I'm halfway through the fork upgrade (RT emulators and springs) on my '04 Thruxton. The first leg came apart easy and is back in. The other one is a real bear. I can't get the damper rod bolt out. It's broken free, but now the damper rod just spins. I've tried several things to get pressure on the damper rod from the top end (including using the fork/spring at almost full compression) and yet the &^%$# thing still turns as I try to unscrew the bolt.

Does anyone have any other ideas on keeping the rod from turning? Or do I just give up and drill the bolt head out (which I want to avoid).

Thanks,
Rob

SHILOH

Get out all the oil residue you can out, use carb cleaner, a degreaser, etc. Then use an air wrench to spin the bolt out with pressure from the spring. Inertia and friction should do the trick. Make sure you are loosening the bolt!!!

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Tusitala - Mt Vaea

DBMike

My friend (the kaw dealer) also recommended an air wrench and loosening the damper rod bolt with the fork still assembled. This worked for me on a DR650.

Be sure to forward your impressions of the upgrade. Sounds like it may be the best suspension upgrade available.

Good luck.

Mike

OKcarburetor

air tools and take a torch to the bolt to heat it up.

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"I never vote for anyone. I always vote against."
W.C. Fields

rminchi

Thanks for the suggestions. I've been using an air wrench, so we'll see if adding a little heat and cleaning all last bits of oil out finally do it. Let y'all know...

rminchi

For anyone that cares, I finally got the miserable thing apart last night. I ended up drilling out the bolt. It's a good thing that I bought the Traxxion kit that includes new drilled damper rods, since the bolt broke off pretty close to the bottom of the old damper rod and I'd still need to extract the old bolt's remains. I'm still not sure why it was so difficult. Glad the other one was so much easier! On to re-assembly once the new bolt shows up and then the ZRX shocks I got from eBay.

Rob

SHILOH

The assembly of the Traxxion rods, etc is nice. It helps to get all the oil, etc out of the fork legs prior to reassembly and I think Traxxion specs the damper rod bolt much lower than Triumph/Haynes, plus no little plastic bits in the bottom.

Hope all goes well from here on for you!

Andy

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Tusitala - Mt Vaea

Jimbonnie

Hey Rob, glad drilling the bolt head off worked for you, though you still have to deal with the glued on bolt.

How difficult was it it drill off the bolt head, in case I have to do mine someday soon?

Jim

rminchi

Jim,
It wasn't too bad with good quality drill bits. Just go slow so you don't destroy anything other than the bolt head. I first drilled a 3/16" hole deep, then follwed up with a 3/8" to drill off the head. I drilled half way thru the head and then it just twisted off. If you're re-using the damper rod, you should probably just use a 3/8" bit so there's something left of the bolt to grab hold of to extract from the rod when it's all out. Just saw the price of one damper rod from BikeBandit was $206. Yikes! Makes the Traxxion kit a bargain

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'99 Sprint ST (Red)
'04 Thruxton (Red)

Jimbonnie

I wonder what it is about the Thruxton damper that makes it over twice as expensive as the Bonnie dampers? But good tip about the bolt, and leaving enough of the shank to make it reasonably easy to remove it from the damper.