New Style Greaseable Apex Lower A-arm Bulkhead Bolts Question

[RobX-1]

Had the two lower bulkhead oilite bushings needing to be replaced on my 08 Apex so decided to replace the lower bulkhead bolts with the newer style that have grease zerks on the head of the bolt:

For those who have swapped out the older style bolt with the new style, did you happen to notice there is a hole inside the tube on each side of the a-arm (front and back) that this bolt will pass thru which is also where the grease will be filled? Although this picture of the a-arm has the bushing removed, the bushing does not cover the hole as the a-arm on the other side did not need its bushings replaced and still has the bushing in it where I can still see this hole just pass the bushing:

I'm curious if Yamaha also plugged this hole in the a-arms of the newer Apex's when switching over to this new bolt so as to keep the grease in the tube or did they just use existing stock (a-arm part numbers are similar). Do you think the holes should be plugged with some type of silicone to keep the grease within the tube as long as the dab of silicone does not interfere with the bolt movement or am I over thinking this? Although I could remove the lower a-arm from my 2018 Apex to confirm, the bushings on it are still in good shape (ie. no play) and do not need replaced so was not expecting to tear into it anytime soon so thought I would check here on TY.

If anyone is curious as to the part numbers for these newer style bolts, the bolt part number is 90401-10045 and the grease zerk is 93700-06M03.

 

[Teamblue4]

I just had the A arms powder coated on the 14 Apex we just bought, don't remember seeing a hole like that in them, only hole I remember seeing is the zerk hole. Put some Silicone in that hole.

 

[musselman]

You will have to plug those holes or the arms will fill with grease. Not sure if the new arms have the holes or not.

 

[maim]

i have a spare set of 11+ arms but need to find them in the disaster that is my garage atm.

 

[RobX-1]

You will have to plug those holes or the arms will fill with grease.

That was my concern as well. What sucks is that the other side still has the bushings in them; didn't need replaced like the other side. However, I believe I can still get to the hole to plug with silicone. Otherwise, I'll carefully have to remove them and try not to bugger them up since they'll be reused. Otherwise, I'll be on my 3rd order with Ulmer Racing in what started out as just needing two bulkhead bushing.

 

[aproudcanadian]

I would try using jb weld to fill the hole . Silicone may not take the pressure from the grease

 

[musselman]

I would try using jb weld to fill the hole . Silicone may not take the pressure from the grease

I used JB weld to plug them, it was not easy though, not much clearance to the pivot bolt.

 

[RobX-1]

That's true there's not much clearance but when compared to the upper a-arm and by comparing the thickness of the oilite bushing for the top and lower a-arms, at least there's more clearance to work with than the upper; that bushing is definitely thinner. I think I'm going to gently remove the bushings from the other side a-arms to 1.) have better access to the hole and 2.) not get JB weld on the bushing as now that I think about it, it would better to use than silicone. Thanks guys for the tips and suggestions.

 

[RobX-1]

Well as luck, at least mine, would have it, the removal was not go according to plan. Not sure if they were cracked prior to removal or they cracked when removing but before disassembly, this side did not have any play in it all when compared to the other. @Srxspec (Ulmer Racing) is probably going to shoot me with placing my 3rd order. Oh well, at least I'm doing my part in supporting the USPS