keep breaking the plastic bushing on front suspension

[rx1 man 04]

everytime I take the suspension out of my sled I keep breaking the shoulders off the little plastic inner plastic bushings on the front suspension assembly when reinstalling it, the suspension keeps hanging up on a black plate on the tunnel, anyone have any tricks to prevent this from happening. just wondering if anyone else has this problem and should it be ok if just the shoulder of the bushing is off but the rest of the bushing is ok, the inner bushing is never a problem, just the outer bushing, I can order new bushing they are only a couple of dollars each but if you dont line up the suspension just right on the first try, it usually breaks the tip of the bushing off, maybe grinding down that plate to take off the sharp edge might help, will it be ok to run like this for the season

 

[Blue Dave]

The title of your post is somewhat misleading. I believe that you are asking about your rear suspension. Specifically the front mounts of your rear suspension.

You could get the Pioneer Performance Nylatron rear suspension bushing kit and never have to replace any of the cheap plastic Yamaha bushings ever again.

http://pioneerperformance.net/store/page3.html

 

[rx1 man 04]

rear suspension

just to clear up any confusion, the bushing are the small black plastic ones in the rear suspension on the front arm assembly. does pioneer make a replacement bushing kit for this application

 

[Blue Dave]

Yes, click on this link.

http://pioneerperformance.net/store/page3.html

 

[rx1 man 04]

talked to ulmer racing

talked to alain at ulmer, he says it is common to lose 1/3 of the shoulder of the bushing when installing the rear suspension and not to worry about it, so I guess I will rum it the way it is and keep an eye on it, too bad they dont make a better bushing than those cheap plastic ones

 

[Winderallday!]

everytime I take the suspension out of my sled I keep breaking the shoulders off the little plastic inner plastic bushings on the front suspension assembly when reinstalling it, the suspension keeps hanging up on a black plate on the tunnel, anyone have any tricks to prevent this from happening.

rx1 man: I have "been there done that" on more than one occassion as you have described. Probably as you suggested, grinding a lead in angle/ramp on the inside steel tunnel stiffeners that catch and break the heads off these bushings would definately help.
What I have done in the past is use a woodworking bar clamp (set to clamp by spreading things open by reversing the jaws) inside the tunnel to spread the tunnel wider while I work the front swing arm up to install the bolts. This method will only get the tunnel opened up so far, as the tunnel width is also "set" by the drive axle assembly. If you were to loosen off the set screws on the speedo side drive axle bearing, the tunnel will spread open much easier, just have to remember to tighten the set screws back up on the bearing.
The front swing arm does "set" the tunnel width as well, when you tighten the bolts up, so what I do is loosen off the drive axle speedo bearing set screws when I remove the suspension, and don't tigten them back up until the front swing arm is bolted up tight. This way the swing arm goes back in without damaging the bushings and the axle and swing arm aren't fighting each other to set the tunnel width when you bolt things back up.
As I recall, these bushings were over $11 each at the stealership, so I make sure I don't fight with the suspension getting it up into the tunnel anymore.
FWIW Apexallday!

 

[Blue Dave]

Re: talked to ulmer racing

talked to alain at ulmer, he says it is common to lose 1/3 of the shoulder of the bushing when installing the rear suspension and not to worry about it, so I guess I will rum it the way it is and keep an eye on it, too bad they dont make a better bushing than those cheap plastic ones

Wow, if you click on the link to Pioneer you will see the better bushings.

http://pioneerperformance.net/store/page3.html

 

[Blue Dave]

Great idea on loosening the speedo bearing collar! I am going to try that when I put my skid back in.

 

[Super Sled]

I run the Pioneer Nylatron bushings in the rear Mono on my Attak GT. They are better and more durable. The collars on them wont chip off during skid reinstallation. Just some food for thought when it comes time to replace your skid bushings.

 

[Winderallday!]

I run the Pioneer Nylatron bushings in the rear Mono on my Attak GT. They are better and more durable. The collars on them wont chip off during skid reinstallation. Just some food for thought when it comes time to replace your skid bushings.

SSled: Pioneer Nylatron kit is my next upgrade for sure!
Anything is better than the brittle plastic Yam OEM bushings. When they break you can see all kinds of voids on the inside from the lame injection molding processing. I've also noticed air pockets and blisters on these things too, unnaceptable for what you pay for them imho.

 

[rx1 man 04]

love the spreader idea

love the spreader idea, have to pick one up a lee valley tools in ottawa, they have every woodworking tool known to man. anyone know if can buy just the single bushings from pioneer performance for the rear suspension arms, instead of a complete kit, gave them a call today and no answer, maybe they are on holidays already, a part number would be great if anyone has one.

 

[Winderallday!]

Re: love the spreader idea

love the spreader idea, have to pick one up a lee valley tools in ottawa, they have every woodworking tool known to man. anyone know if can buy just the single bushings from pioneer performance for the rear suspension arms, instead of a complete kit, gave them a call today and no answer, maybe they are on holidays already, a part number would be great if anyone has one.

rx1 man 04: this is not a specialty woodworking tool, check out Home Hardware or Crappy Tire.

http://www.homehardware.ca/en/rec/index ... Ntt=clamps

 

[rx1 man 04]

thanks for the tip

thanks for the tip, will have to pick one , could save a lot of grief and aggravation when it comes to installing the skid

 

[Blue Dave]

Re: love the spreader idea

love the spreader idea, have to pick one up a lee valley tools in ottawa, they have every woodworking tool known to man. anyone know if can buy just the single bushings from pioneer performance for the rear suspension arms, instead of a complete kit, gave them a call today and no answer, maybe they are on holidays already, a part number would be great if anyone has one.

rx1 man 04: this is not a specialty woodworking tool, check out Home Hardware or Crappy Tire.

http://www.homehardware.ca/en/rec/index ... Ntt=clamps

You need a bar style clamp. Turn the jaws facing out and use the screw to open the jaws wider. make sure that you loosen the speedo side drive shaft bearing collar lock screws first. Great idea!

 

[sleddog66]

X3 on the pioneer set of bushings. I broke 3 oems like you describe. Bought the pioneers, and wala!! No more broken bushing. They are not as brittle. I'm not saying that they still can't break, but not nearly as easy.