Honda ATV Forum banner

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
 
See less See more
#3 ·
Yes, great info!! Might save someone else a lot of trouble.
 
#5 ·
no bleeding knuckles but I think we invented a few words.. LOL once we cut everything it was ok then.
 
#6 ·
LOL, "Herrumpharumph" pronounced Her-rumpf-a-rumpf is a word that I made up when I busted my knuckles with my nephew right next to me. LOL My wife and i still use it.
 
#7 ·
^^^^^ Mind if I use that... lol Great info moose. Can't go wrong with a cut wheel... Well you can but we'll get to that later. lol
 
#9 ·
I put a sticky to this thread so people that need assistance could find it.
 
#10 ·
Suspension Auto part Vehicle Suspension part Chassis


Been there done that!!!!!! I soked mine for 2 days with Kroil would spin it with an impact wrench then beat it back and forth with an impact hammer. Mine is a 2001.

My new bolt is gun drilled and has a grease zerk:icon_ rocker:
 
#12 ·
Found this on another forum:

Hi, i have an 02 and the pivot pin came out easy after 6 years!!!! After i was done riding i would put it on the side and spray pen oil, pb blaster down the bolt on the threaded side (bolt off)and let it sit. i did this for 2 months, after every ride. when i put it on its side and hit it, it moved on the first try. i just smacked all the way down them put it on its wheels for the final blow. my bolt only had rust on about 25% of it (all you could see) i tried to turn it back in 04 after reading on here people were having to cut them out. i even used an impacted on it. so i have been dreading it ever since. i think putting it on the side really helped to take the weight off the pivot bolt.
 
#14 ·
I couldn't on my 01 rebuild im doing. your die-grinder will need a fresh wheel once you cut most of the way through you can snap it off.
 
#15 ·
Luckily for me, my 06 wasn't too bad.
I took it out as preventative maintenance and greased it up.
I'll be doing this probably multiple times a year to prevent seizing.
I don't want to cut it up haha
 
#16 ·
Anti-seize works better than grease by the way.
 
#30 ·
Thats what i heard and my 04 in my signature is really tickin me off guess im gonna have to cut it.... i heard after every 5 rides or so it should be taken out and greased or covered with anti seize.... ill be doing it more often than that....
 
#17 ·
noted.

Will keep that in mind in my winter overhaul.
Thanks.
 
#18 · (Edited)
i just got done with my sons 400ex swingarm bolt,it was a S-O-B big time.two days messin with it grinder impact,then put it on its side for two days with kroil and all,then i went to work and brought home the torches,4 cuts on the bolt and bushings and the dam thing is seized in the crankcase.we had to heat it way more than i wanted to but that !@#$%^%^ er finally came out. HONDA AND THERE REFUSAL TO PUT A GREASE ZERK IN ANYTHING IS "ALL THAT MUCH MORE PROFIT FOR US".dont get me wrong i love hondas but do they really need to put someone through that when it would literally cost them almost nothing,just 2 grease zerks thats all!if i get a nother one in here i would consider telling them no,i aint dealin with that kind of bs.as you can tell hondas grease zerk policy has me -well ill quit now or ill get kicked off the forum.glad to here you got it done.
 
#19 ·
the problem isn't the bearings the bolt seizes inside of the bushings on each side of the engine I can have out in about 30 min now that I have the experience. lol
 
#20 ·
pivot bolt

I had fun with one and before it went back in, since honda is nice enuf to use a hollow bolt, I put a zerk in one end a plug in the other then cross drilled and chamfered holes in the area of the bushings, did the same to the bushings so the grease could actually reach the bearings. now after every ride I just grease the bearings. I also do this to every swingarm I pull.
 
#22 ·
mine won't spin, am I wasting my time hammering it? Guess its cutting time.
 
#26 ·
Not sure on all models but definitely on the 400. .
 
#27 ·
Ok cool and thanks. I might check mine out and see sometime,sure would hate to have to deal with that though. Honda's pretty notorious for not putting much grease on swingarm bearings on their bikes anyway, so it doesn't surprise me it wouldn't have anti seize on it either
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top