Front pivot seized in frame Azure

ashwinearl · 09-12-2009

Hey all,
I need to send my 5th element for an overhaul and took the bolts out for the front shock and proceeded to tap out the pivot with a punch.

Tap-tap turned in to bang-bang then into wail wail, without it budging at all.

Any tips?

Here is a picture of the pivot

My method in the past has been to put a punch on to it and just tap it out.

KevinB · 09-12-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashwinearl

Hey all,
I need to send my 5th element for an overhaul and took the bolts out for the front shock and proceeded to tap out the pivot with a punch.

Tap-tap turned in to bang-bang then into wail wail, without it budging at all.

Any tips?

Is it the front or the rear pivot that's siezed?

If it's the rear, is it possible to take apart the link? (The Hollowpoint link was bolted together and could be separated into two or more parts. Not sure if the Azure is set up that way or not.) I'm thinking that if it's possible to take the link apart, you might at least be able to get the shock off the bike. You can then work on getting the pivot axle out of the shock hardware.

Not sure what to suggest if it's the front that's seized.

Have you tried heat? Ammonia? (Some of the tricks in Sheldon Brown's stuck seatpost article might be appropriate here.)

ashwinearl · 09-13-2009

saw this over in the Santa Cruz forum
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.ph...t=seized+pivot

going to try the socket trick and the vise. Hopefully it will work, thank god for mtbr search function. Will post results.

ashwinearl · 09-14-2009

Ok, I got it finally, but it was scary.

-First I tried a C-clamp with two sockets. One with a hole big enough to accept the pin geting pushed into it, and one small enough that the head was just smaller than the OD (outer diameter) of the pivot pin.

-This was worthless, because turning the clamp ended up rotating the small socket and it wouldn't stay in place.

-Next put the whole frame in the vice. Still too hard to juggle a frame, and 2 sockets all while turning the vice.

-replaced small socket with one of the screws holding on the pivot. I threaded it all the way in but didn't put the the taperd washer that typically goes on with it. This will allow for a few mm of movement before the screw hit he frame.

-Lined up the bigger socket with the pivot and started turning.
-I have a mid sized craftsman vice. No movement, Put a cheater bar on the lever, and tried again. With all my mini-might.
-Finally a POP, and it moved.

-did this again using the small socket and got it to move again, but again needed the cheater bar and lots of muscle.

-Oh also used liquid wrench profusely through the process.

-switched to a punch, turned the frame sideways and rested it on the top of the vice and opened the jaws just enough for the pin to go through. Then I tapped it all the way through.

Pin was pretty corroded

Lesson learned:

Use antiseize, or maintain on a regular schedule.

KevinB · 09-14-2009

Congrats on getting it out!

And... Thanks for posting the follow-up with pictures.

Are you planning on reusing that pin? If not, have you figured out where to get a spare?

ashwinearl · 09-14-2009

given all the shakeup I doubt there are parts around unless you have an in with someone at Randall.

My advice is that if you need any hardware parts is to make friends with two people
1) a hobby or job shop machinest
2) the owner of an IH bike who can loan you their hardware parts to measure

I'm going to lightly sand off the corrosion and use antiseize when I put it back in.

RockadileSX · 09-21-2009

ashwinearl your Azure looks like its been through hell and back lol, I mean daaammmmnnn.

ashwinearl · 09-21-2009

It's a sweet bike given the correct part's spec. Ideally suited to aggressive cross country. Sure it has it's issues with weight and tire clearance but
If I broke it, I'd probably go buy another one (regardless of warranty) immediately. For the money they are an awesome bike. I'm so saddened that due to the IH debacle that there are no affordable DW links. They are all boutique now with boutique prices. Which is a shame.

RockadileSX · 09-23-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashwinearl

It's a sweet bike given the correct part's spec. Ideally suited to aggressive cross country. Sure it has it's issues with weight and tire clearance but
If I broke it, I'd probably go buy another one (regardless of warranty) immediately. For the money they are an awesome bike. I'm so saddened that due to the IH debacle that there are no affordable DW links. They are all boutique now with boutique prices. Which is a shame.

My thoughts exactly which is why I picked one up myself, they are very very solid bikes, I never worry about mine breaking when I ride it. I don't have $2400 for just a frame now either (Ibis Pivot) and the dw-link is for real.