[Snicks]

Hi guys. I’ve got some new bushings to fit on my newly powdercoated swingarm. Thrilled. The bushings are a kind of high density plastic. Do you recommend heating the swingarm up in the oven and fitting these bushings? Will the heated swingarm warp or damage the bushings? I was then going to grease fit the collars (pins).

 

[rortiz5]

Hi guys. I’ve got some new bushings to fit on my newly powdercoated swingarm. Thrilled. The bushings are a kind of high density plastic. Do you recommend heating the swingarm up in the oven and fitting these bushings? Will the heated swingarm warp or damage the bushings? I was then going to grease fit the collars (pins).

View attachment 310466

Smarter minds can chime in but I believe freezing the bushings helps and installing them by pressing them in with a makeshift bolt/washer/nut device. I’ve seen other users post pics of making this work without damaging the bushings in the process.

Edit: I should probably do my research before commenting.

 

[Richard_Pitman]

Someone smarter than me could probably comment on the different coefficients of expansion / contraction that apply to plastic vs metal bushes ….

 

[longdistancerider]

After sanding the rust and crud out of the swingarm bores what's the difference in diameters between the bores and the bushings?

 

[Snicks]

I double posted this topic with a thread on the project log thinking it would be a better resource for the community. I’ll copy paste my results here. (I won’t double post anymore!)
I ended up just press fitting the bushings in with the help of a threaded rod, washers and nuts technique. Plenty of grease and no heating required. I thought this was going to be way harder to do.... The powdercoater had properly plugged all the holes as requested so I didn’t have extra work.
The rear bushings where the shocks bolt through also went smoothly with the same method.
See pics!
@longdistancerider I don’t know the exact measurements since I fit the bushings in already but I hope the images here give you an idea that it isn’t as PITA to do.