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Removing damper from forks - help!

Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 6:27 pm
by idl1975
I've pulled one of my forks to replace the seals, bushes & oil. Did not undo the rebound damper mechanism fixing bolt in the bottom of the fork leg in situ, so immobilized the fork leg in a vice. Even with damper rod and top cap in place and fork slider clamped in place, I can't get the bolt to loosen. It turns in place, and just turns the damper inside the fork. Any suggestions on how to stop the damper spinning? I don't have the Yamaha service tool, and haynes doesn't actually tell you how to go about bodging one (except to say it's "easy" - very helpful!).

Er, second problem - having tried removing damper rod, spring and spacers in order to get to the damper, the slider now won't come back up, i.e. it's like the fork is permanently compressed. Anyone have any idea what's going on with that?

Re: Removing damper from forks - help!

Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 6:55 pm
by steve speed
to get the bottom bolt out i use a air impact driver your local garage will help as it only takes a minute to do ,,or race tech say give the bolt a good whack to free off the loctite , i have not tried this as i have a air impact wrench, if the damper rod has slid down inside turn the leg upside down and it should come out ,,you will have no problem once you get that bottom bolt out , and when you reassemble if you have not got a new copper washer just heat the old one up until cherry red and drop it in water hey presto new soft washer ,,,hope this helps and make sure every thing is clean before you reassemble

Re: Removing damper from forks - help!

Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 6:58 pm
by steve speed
just read the post again if your slider has jamed down i would think that the fork leg is bent ,,,sorry

Re: Removing damper from forks - help!

Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 9:29 pm
by idl1975
steve speed wrote:to get the bottom bolt out i use a air impact driver your local garage will help as it only takes a minute to do ,,or race tech say give the bolt a good whack to free off the loctite , i have not tried this as i have a air impact wrench, if the damper rod has slid down inside turn the leg upside down and it should come out ,,you will have no problem once you get that bottom bolt out , and when you reassemble if you have not got a new copper washer just heat the old one up until cherry red and drop it in water hey presto new soft washer ,,,hope this helps and make sure every thing is clean before you reassemble
The problem isn't that bolt - it turns. It's that the damper body it's attached to just turns in the fork leg. On my TY, you can just put an allen head socket down the fork tube to fix the damper, but the one on the TRX has three sort of rectangular slots around the hole for the damper rod that the factory tool presumably fits into.

Re: Removing damper from forks - help!

Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 10:20 pm
by Killerwhale
I found myself a broomstick to hold the bolt on the inside, it was a hexagon and fitted scaringly well.
Another way to loosen the bolt is to compress the legs and loosen it....both way´s would be much easier with some friends and a case of beer!
idl1975 wrote:
steve speed wrote:to get the bottom bolt out i use a air impact driver your local garage will help as it only takes a minute to do ,,or race tech say give the bolt a good whack to free off the loctite , i have not tried this as i have a air impact wrench, if the damper rod has slid down inside turn the leg upside down and it should come out ,,you will have no problem once you get that bottom bolt out , and when you reassemble if you have not got a new copper washer just heat the old one up until cherry red and drop it in water hey presto new soft washer ,,,hope this helps and make sure every thing is clean before you reassemble
The problem isn't that bolt - it turns. It's that the damper body it's attached to just turns in the fork leg. On my TY, you can just put an allen head socket down the fork tube to fix the damper, but the one on the TRX has three sort of rectangular slots around the hole for the damper rod that the factory tool presumably fits into.

Re: Removing damper from forks - help!

Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 10:54 am
by steve speed
The problem isn't that bolt - it turns. It's that the damper body it's attached to just turns in the fork leg. On my TY, you can just put an Allen head socket down the fork tube to fix the damper, but the one on the TRX has three sort of rectangular slots around the hole for the damper rod that the factory tool presumably fits into



this is why you should use an air impact wrench it will shock the bolt out of the threads another way is to apply some heat ie blowtorch a few good wacks and it will come undone ,,or take it to a yamaha dealer and let them undo it

Re: Removing damper from forks - help!

Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 6:21 pm
by Killerwhale
Just told the bloke how i got it loose.
steve speed wrote:The problem isn't that bolt - it turns. It's that the damper body it's attached to just turns in the fork leg. On my TY, you can just put an Allen head socket down the fork tube to fix the damper, but the one on the TRX has three sort of rectangular slots around the hole for the damper rod that the factory tool presumably fits into



this is why you should use an air impact wrench it will shock the bolt out of the threads another way is to apply some heat ie blowtorch a few good wacks and it will come undone ,,or take it to a yamaha dealer and let them undo it