No Nipples = Stiff beam?

[markevo30]

I've got a 4" narrowed Slamwerks K & L beam fitted to my van. I know that they run quite stiff due the narrowed springs but mine seems to be binding on the bushes, well i'm guessing that they're bushes and not bearings, as when you jack the van up the trailing arms/wheels move down in stages as opposed to smoothly. The beam isn't fitted with grease nipples so i am tempted to strip the beam off to drill and tap to fit two nipples in each tube so i can pack it full of grease.

Is there any reason why i shouldn't do this?

Is there another reason why the trailing arms appear so tight/stiff in the beam?

Thanks for looking.

 

[neilswheels]

It sounds like the beam has bushes, my buggy was the same when I put in replacement bushes, ended up junking the beem in the end. I thought Slamwerks used bearings? If they are bushes, there is a 'special' lubricant you can use, but i dont know what it is, so not much help. Hopefully someone can point you in the right direction, I just googled this..
http://www.suspensionconnection.com/blog/how-to-properly-grease-a-polyurethane-bushing/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[Clem]

I dont 'think' you should grease bushes with any old grease. The uretheane swells and then binds.

 

[markevo30]

Thanks for the responses.

It sounds like the beam has bushes, my buggy was the same when I put in replacement bushes, ended up junking the beem in the end. I thought Slamwerks used bearings? If they are bushes, there is a 'special' lubricant you can use, but i dont know what it is, so not much help. Hopefully someone can point you in the right direction, I just googled this..
http://www.suspensionconnection.com/blo" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... e-bushing/
Post Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 9:19 pm

Around the time my beam was built in 2010 Slamwerks only made a K & l beam and as far as I can tell they all used bushes. I think they then went on to make ball joint beams using needle bearings. As you say as they are bushes they will require a special lube. After some googling it looks like the bushes are made from Delrin but I'm struggling to find a lube suitable for this material.

I dont 'think' you should grease bushes with any old grease. The uretheane swells and then binds.
Post Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2015 9:07 am

Looks like you're right Clem, normal grease isn't the stuff to use on Delrin (or uretheane) as it is liable to swell causing binding, exactly what I'm suffering from.

Does anyone know of a suitable lubricant?

I've got a couple of weeks before our next trip so I'm going to strip the beam off to have a look what state everything's in with a view to reassembling once I've greased the torsion leaves and (hopefully) found something to lube the bushes with.

 

[Andy_sheff]

You need red grease for rubber eurothane. That's what I used on my beam bushes also after reading somewhere about it. I got it from a local motorbike shop, not sure what them lads use it for.

 

[Andy_sheff]

http://www.redrubbergrease.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

All brands will be the same

 

[mj_jonesy]

Does anyone know of a suitable lubricant?

would 'red rubber grease' work?

 

[mj_jonesy]

Damn beaten to it :evil:

 

[markevo30]

Thanks guys, I'll look into the 'red rubber grease' now.

 

[Clem]

Not certain about motorbikes, but some of the old GT full suspension mountain bikes used uerethane bushes, which is where we discovered that regular grease used by owners was knackering the bushes, Im guessing the same applies to motorbikes though - crossover technology and all that.

 

[markevo30]

Not certain about motorbikes, but some of the old GT full suspension mountain bikes used uerethane bushes, which is where we discovered that regular grease used by owners was knackering the bushes, Im guessing the same applies to motorbikes though - crossover technology and all that.

After reading about red grease it seems that that's the stuff to use on motorbike fork seal/stanchions. It's just as well i read about that as the next job on my project 250 Brat bike is to renew the fork seals. Good job I've just bought a big tub!

 

[markevo30]

I managed to wrestle the beam off this morning and it looks like there's more to solving the binding trailing arms than lubrication. It took a tap with a lump hammer to move the arms in either direction. There was a combination of multipurpose and copper grease in the beam which may have caused the bushes to swell so it looks like I need to go down the reaming route. I've just bought an adjustable 38-45mm reamer off t'internet which should arrive some time next week.

In a strange way I'm quite pleased that i found something so wrong because hopefully I can look forward to an improved ride when the front end is set up properly.

 

[Andy_sheff]

Not certain about motorbikes, but some of the old GT full suspension mountain bikes used uerethane bushes, which is where we discovered that regular grease used by owners was knackering the bushes, Im guessing the same applies to motorbikes though - crossover technology and all that.

After reading about red grease it seems that that's the stuff to use on motorbike fork seal/stanchions. It's just as well i read about that as the next job on my project 250 Brat bike is to renew the fork seals. Good job I've just bought a big tub!

I've had a couple of brat bikes, I built this old cb750 from a stock bike,

 

[markevo30]

Not certain about motorbikes, but some of the old GT full suspension mountain bikes used uerethane bushes, which is where we discovered that regular grease used by owners was knackering the bushes, Im guessing the same applies to motorbikes though - crossover technology and all that.

After reading about red grease it seems that that's the stuff to use on motorbike fork seal/stanchions. It's just as well i read about that as the next job on my project 250 Brat bike is to renew the fork seals. Good job I've just bought a big tub!

I've had a couple of brat bikes, I built this old cb750 from a stock bike,

Looks nice. A CB750 is probably a better starting point than the Suzuki GS 250 I'm doing. It was only meant as a practice project before I move on to bigger and better things.

 

[Andy_sheff]

I started off with a Honda cd 250, did that and quickly got fed up of the lack of power!

 

[markevo30]

Just a quick note to finish off the thread.

After reaming the bushes and cleaning and greasing the king and link pins I have proper working front suspension.

Definitely worth all the effort.

 

[dubdubz]

which reamer did you buy and would you recommend it?

thanks

 

[markevo30]

which reamer did you buy and would you recommend it?

thanks

I bought an adjustable reamer with six blades. I think that the trailing arms are about 43mm so made sure the one i bought had room to move either side of that. I can't remember exactly where it came from but it wasn't that hard to find one on t'internet. I paid £35ish but you can pay up to £400!

When using the reamer it did tend to bite into the bushes which left quite a rough finish on the inner face. Not ideal but the end result was better than where i started i.e. the suspension worked!