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400EX Pivot bolt info

75K views 83 replies 36 participants last post by  TRX2fiveO 
#1 · (Edited)
I am here to offer a little insight to my experience in removing a frozen swing arm pivot bolt on a 2006 TRX 400EX. After reading until my eyes hurt. I have come to the following conclusion. Honda did not think this area through very well. lol. After 2 days of spraying heating beating, Repeat ect ect, We were able to move the bolt a full 1/8" yes I said 1/8". lol. We broke out the last resort...the Die-Grinder with a cut-off wheel. Note: If you can't get the bolt to move a substantial distance in 8 or 10 blows with an 8lb. hammer it's not going to move. first we removed the subframe and shock, it makes all the room and easier to work... The first cut was made on the right side of the engine where the pivot bolt goes through the block (make all cuts while rotating the bolt), next we moved up as close to the swing arm on that side as possible, once you make that cut there will be about 1/4" of sleeve left to get off of the bolt, leave that for now.On the left side find you a small piece of wood another set of arms and a long prybar. take the wood and stick it just below the starter on the housing, take the pry bar and wedge it between the wood and frame now those other set of arms need to pry the motor towards the brake side just enough to get your cut wheel in there, make your cut rotate the bolt cut again and so forth until it breaks free. now Over to the left side take your cutter and cut around the edge of the dust cap like you are going to split it into 2 pieces ( you will have to rotate it too). after you cut through cut across it to remove the end closest to the swing arm. Now you have room between the frame and swing to cut the bolt. After you cut through that end remove the end of the bolt.
Almost done. grab the Swing arm and twist it upon the left side above the engine and out if your bearings are still inside you may have to pry it out. now that the swing arm is out of the way you can take a long rod and tap out the left over bolt from the engine, I was able to pry the remainding sleeve off of the right side and then remove the bolt head.
This is basically what we had to do in a nut shell, I do not recommend beating on the bolt for more than the amount I stated above. The reason why is after all that whailing we noticed that while we were beating the truth out of the bolt end we didn't realize we had actually bent the pivot gusset out about 3/8 or an inch on the brake side. SO don't do it. If you take your time and cut it out turn the bolt while cutting you won't hurt the case or anything in the area. I hope this experience will aid anyone else in removing their stuck pivot bolt, This method may work for other models but I really wasn't going to try it on the other quads in the shop..lol Good Luck.

PS. When you install the new bolt put a liberal amount of anti-seize on it, you'll love your quad later for it. lol
 
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#29 ·
Well then mine doesn't have any on it lol Go look at the sprocket pic I posted on my thread.Maintenance was not a thought on this quad before I got it. Good thing its a Honda and they are hard to kill.
 
#32 · (Edited)
i used PBlaster and sprayed down the pivot bolt everywhere I could get to for about a week and let it sit. removed the nut and spun the bolt head with an impact gun for a few seconds. used a punch that fit into the thread end hole and used a sledgehammer to work it out. took about 3 tries back and forth and about 5 minutes of actual hammering. I had to use a metric die to clean up the threads. the previous owner never greased the swingarm bearings ever so this method has some merit

if you coat the whole pivot bolt with grease and put grease on the open areas in between the arm and motor it wont rust up again making for easy removal. Use a thick high temp bearing grease that isnt affected by water.
 
#36 ·
Actually no it doesn't. However removing the sub frame, chain and rear shock opens it up. My method you just support it under the engine. You can leave the axle and wheels on
 
#38 ·
I tried the soak and beat method and nearly beat the piss out of the frame the pivot bolt actually seizes in the bushing and the bushing just spins with the bolt. Beating may work sometimes but the 3 I've done was a fail. cutting is about 15 min with a good angled die-grinder and thin cut wheel
 
#40 ·
You actually make a series of cuts as covered in my write up the head and end are actually able to be pulled out by fingers or pliers
 
#41 ·
I had something like that happen on a warrior 350 I hit the swing arm bolt with a hammer till it turned into a mushroom then I finely got it to move half an inch. After 3 cans of pb blaster and a lot of beating I used a horse shoe stake to pound it out the rest of the way. And this whole time I could twist the bolt back and forth but it was hung up
 
#43 ·
Question

So I have an 07 TRX 450r, never touched the pivot bolt but going to when i get back to the states....
From the sounds of it, its not going to be fun!! Ha
going to replace the stocker with a lonestar.
My question is should i just get a new (pivot works) bearing kit while im at it
also, i have the maintenance manual and planned on following that (first time and all) any TIPS other then above thats not in the manual???
thanks!
Scott
 
#46 ·
If I may make a recommendation for cutting the old bolt out, a reciprocating saw with an "iron and abrasives" blade cuts through it like butter! More like a dull knife through concrete but it still makes it through the bolt in about a minute of cutting without wearing out the blade... I ate through three heavy metal blades before giving it a shot. Three cuts right between the dust caps/spacers and the motor was out and the swing arm wiggled free.
 
#47 ·
Did it this way too, I like air though. Lol and my angled grinder worked like a charm.
 
#48 ·
The Ol' dreaded swing arm bolt. Did this a couple years ago to a friends 400, and after we beat, and frailed, and soaked, and heated, and drilled, and air hammered, then we broke out the saws-all and could only get to the right side of the bolt, and then what Moose said, die grinder time.. wish I had seen this sticky back then. Now for preventive maintenance Moose is on the right track with the never seize, but just a little less than a year had went by and all that beating we did previously cracked the swing-arm on the right side where the bolt goes through, and we did not catch it until it failed on the trail. So back to the shop we go, and I am thinking this will be a breeze since I loaded up the bolt with never seize, WRONG!!!! The problem with never seize is it eventually washed away when water got past the seals, and water will get past the seals if you ride a 400 like it was intended on being rode.(wide open). So we cut again much easier this time especially since the right side of the swing arm was hanging down and out of the way.LOL.. Ramble Ramble... To make it short: when applying new seals, use RTV Black silicone gasket maker, and coat the outer edge of the seal and then install.(let dry overnight) then install a zerk fitting on each side of the swing arm between the inner and outer seals. Use a good Marine Grade Grease to keep the water away. don't get to crazy with your grease gun pumping or you will push the seals out. (did that also) So my friend greases this thing all the time now, and after another year went by, just for shits and giggles we wanted to see if that bolt had seized again, I loosened the nut a gave it a little tap and it almost shot out the other side. This may not work for you, these are just my experiences with the dreaded swing arm bolt.
 
#49 ·
marine grade grease is also a good lube to use you are correct. . . most of the time anti-seize used about every 6 months will do the trick too eventually it will all wash away though. . good practice would be to remove it every so often and clean it up. Thanks for the addition CD
 
#50 ·
ok after two days after work I finally got out the bolt on my swingarm.. I cut grinded and drilled.. then in the end I seen that it may of all been avoided.. the sleeve on the right side can be held with vise grips and then use an impact on the bolt. this may fee it. believe me I would of tried it. but didn't realize it was the sleeve.. now waiting on bolt kit to put it back together.. good luck people on this problem.. all I can say is if the vise grips don't work. just cut it out. save yourself a lot of time and trouble with it..
 
#52 ·
Knock it out with a brass dowel punch that's just a little smaller than the bolt
 
#54 ·
go buy a Chinese bike

You undo motor mount bolts. Swing motor up and cut it with a hack saw and pound it out..i joined this forum 2 months ago and asked some questions .guess what?what a bunch of morons!my advise-get a manual or search for ur answer on web-you'll likely to find it on atv forum.don't listen to these morons .Honda are the best .there should b a website to match
 
#57 · (Edited)
You undo motor mount bolts. Swing motor up and cut it with a hack saw and pound it out..i joined this forum 2 months ago and asked some questions .guess what?what a bunch of morons!my advise-get a manual or search for ur answer on web-you'll likely to find it on atv forum.don't listen to these morons .Honda are the best .there should b a website to match
What????? I think you calling us morons is like the pot calling the kettle black don't you think? . The only questions I've seen you ask are about a muffler a clutch lever and can your flywheel bolt be too tight. Not our fault your manual can't talk and tell you what to do. You had a good reply from a pretty smart fellow member. Most of the regulars up here have probably forgotten more about these machines. By the way This is the best site on the web , you summed that up when you decided to join "since you kept coming back to this site" (your words).
 
#55 ·
Friend had to get my bolt cherry red hot then twist with a vice grips and one of the bushings was still stuck to it. Bolt seemed like it was bent.
 
#56 ·
Finally after a ton of drilling, beating and cutting we were able to remove our old swingarm due to a seized pivot bolt. Upon removal it looks like the swing arm is missing on the lips that come out where the swingarm connects to the frame as shown in the first picture. The arm has the lip on the axel side but not on the brake side. I did not cut the lip and I have no idea what would have caused this unless it was worn down when the previous owner had it. Does anyone know if this swingarm is junk or is is possible that I could smooth down the inside and purchase the lip? I know that I cannot simply replace the swingarm bearings and reattach because it will have to much play correct?











 
#58 ·
Brenth561. . . That's a pretty nasty looking swing. I'm afraid you might be looking at a new replacement. . .Thank goodness they are not too expensive.
 
#59 ·
Yeah, thats pretty rough, going to have a heck of a time getting a bearing race to go in and stay in.... As for the lip being missing, the po probably did this one before and cut it off accidentally. It would still work and most likely not shift around... worse comes to worse you could use fender washers as a shim, but you would loose the ability to seal that sides bushing, and it likely wouldn't last long...
 
#60 ·
The only bad thing is the lip that holds the dust seals ate gone so that would mean premature failure
 
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#61 ·
This is basically what we had to do in a nut shell, I do not recommend beating on the bolt for more than the amount I stated above. The reason why is after all that whailing we noticed that while we were beating the truth out of the bolt end we didn't realize we had actually bent the pivot gusset out about 3/8 or an inch on the brake side.
fut 14 coins
rs 07 gold
This is very true. ...^^^^^^^^
 
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