Loose swing arm

First its tight... now its loose ???? Snow & Mud ?? Your findings are a bit hard to follow !

How was your needle bearings. If you put the 2 cylindrical spacers inside the bearings, is there no slack ??

If you had slack in you swingarm, something is wrong and something is too loose. So a tight fit in the engine block did not cause slack. But should still be corrected.

Polish your shaft, and keep working it in the engine for a nice fit. Add some grease.. work it again, clean it off, add some grease, work it again.

To find where your slack comes from look harder for worn parts.. or even missing parts so compare with the excellent parts drawing for this

Anders, DK

I don't think theres room for cylindrical spacers.

I think/hope I can just get some spare bearings and keep an eye on it.

What do you think about a few more nm's on the torque wreach in the mean time. Its at 100nm.

As mentioned before, It's not about how hard you can tighten this up, it really sounds like something is WORN OUT or not assembled correctly.
Do you have a dealer nearby... Take it to a pro and he will tell you what's wrong. Print out the exploded view, to check if all parts are there.

Unless someone else want's to jump in here, cause I think we are going in circles...

Sorry,
Anders, DK

F+ said:

125 nm on the swingarm bolt nut?
Are you saying no gaps between frame, swingarm and engine ?

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The actual torque on the nut should not be that critical just do it up FT.

There should be no gaps between the swingarm lugs on the frame, the spacers that go through the centres of the swingarm needle bearings and the engine cases. These things all get clamped tightly in direct contact when you tighten the swingarm bolt (pin).

You should still see small gap between the frame and the swingarm pivot tubes (where the needle bearings press into the swingarm) and these tubes & the engine cases. These gaps govern how much end float there is in the swingarm bearings.

F+ said:

So the right side is super rusted out and it real dirty in the engine part.
Nothing seems to be broken or worn out.

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Does it have both sleeves fitted through the swingarm bearing needles? Has it been apart before & either of these left out? If either of the sleeves are missing (or cracked.. mine were in the pre 2000 linkage bearings) tighening up the swingarm pivot pin will likely bend the frame.

F+ said:

What do you think ? A little WD-40 and call it good.

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Assume you are kidding?? Gotta have the bearings packed with the most water resistant grease you can find to keep the water & dirt out. Water and the rust it causes is probably the main killer of these bearings. They don't really work that hard and should last well if clean & lubricated.

F+ said:

The swing armbolt has a sorry *** fit to it through the engine and it's not in very good shpe. With the swingarm off I can bearly twist it through the engine with grease and a pair of vice-grips.

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By "sorry-***" do you mean it is overly tight or loose? The best fit is such that you have to drive it through the engine cases with a hammer & soft punch when the pin is cleaned of all dirt & rust and then greased or oiled up over its entire surface. You shouldn't really have to twist it. Ensure the pin is straight with a steel rule before fitting it.

F+ said:

How loose is to loose ?
I greased it up pretty good but its been in snow and mud.

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You rarely have any problem with the fit of the pin too loose through the engine. Biggest problem is puting it in without grease or good anti-seize and having it rust up and lock into the engine cases.

the bikes up to '05 needed 125Nm. i hadn't read the small print on the later models.

regards

Taffy

I'm dwelling , .

Got the new bearings and I will be getting started shortly.
I tightened the bolt up to 130nm and no I didn't read the small print.

Can I get a KTM part number for the replacement kit, please ?
The bush sleeve's are longer in the kit I got. The number on the kit they gave me is PWSAK-T03-020

Oh, and I need a new chain and sprocket too, 48 and a 15 is what it had. Don"t I want a 14 in fromt ?

If you run the 15 in front you'll go thought you chain guides wheels quick.

I really do need a Pivot Works part number.

OK, Dude at the shop cant get a number, BOSS , Bike Barn , do you have some swing arms bearings ? I have already baught stuff from you before. I do not know the name of the name of the shop in Boise.
06 550 fe. please

Hi, miss me ?
Umm, those babys are realy in there, yes I have heat on it.
I realy don't want to scar the swing arm
Should I just cut them ?

idea

Okay F+,
Taffy will doubtless have better advice, but without the luxury of a hydraulic press, this is how I got the bearing races out of my YZ 250......They were seized in the swingarm, as yours are...I also did not want to damage the swingarm....I got my dremel, put a small round rock on it, and started grinding, from the inside of the race,out toward the swingarm.....as it neared going thru the race, I would move through the length of the race, until I had a groove cut almost all the way through. At this point I was able to take a flat end punch, and begin to carefully tap the race into the center of itself, so as to reduce the overall diameter of the race, which gave room for a little slack, which of course allowed me to remove the old races. Installing the new ones was a snap, with a nice bench vise as a press...with a little grease they go in easily, compared to removing them !!!!!.......oh, and put the new bearings in the freezer before installing them, and you can put a torch on the swingarm, right before installation.....and you know, I do not think it is a big deal if the swingarm races get scratched a little...there is no movement against the swingarm itself......if this thing is like the YZ 250......it was still a ***** to do.......

RE: idea

try motoxotica.com.

RE: idea

Cool thank you.
I'll be checking out that site to.