Blur LT2 shock bushing - dull but important

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Blur LT2 shock bushing - dull but important

16 posts & 7 voices | Started 4 months ago by CaptainMainwaring | Latest reply from CaptainMainwaring

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CaptainMainwaring - Member

Bear with me on this - questions at the end

The lower shock bushing on my BLT2 has needed replacing about every 6-9 months. It's a quick job and my excellent LBS (Bothy Bikes) has always done it cheaply while myself and Mrs M walk the dogs around the Cairngorms for the day

As I'm not heading up that way in the near future, I checked on the right part with SC/Jungle (v responsive by email) and ordered it online.

So, the part that arrives is the bushing plus two "top hats" that fit into it, same as the upper shock bushing. The current lower assembly is a different arrangement with an axle that goes through the bushing and is located by a spacer either side plus rubber washer. The spacer locates on a slight ridge round the pivot bolt to ensure it doesn't move.

I put the new bushing in but am re-using the old axle and spacers as:
1) There is nothing to stop the "top hats" moving around
2) The pivot bolt was more snug in the old axle than the new "top hats"

Just seems to me that using the top hats would have allowed some movement in the frame. Has anybody any experience of doing this replacement, and are you using the axle or top hats? If you are using top hats don't you get slight movement that will cause squeaks/clicks?

Posted 4 months ago #
CaptainMainwaring - Member

What no-one? Surely there must be one of the STW Blur owners out there who has done this?

Posted 4 months ago #
cruzheckler - Member

this is a "strong heavy duty bush" should last way longer

Posted 4 months ago #
goatster - Member

CMW
Looks like bothy bikes have replaced the standard Fox bushes with the heavy duty bushes that you would get from TF Tuned or BTED. If you call either of these they will send you new kits or the nylon bushes.

Jungle have sent you a standard Fox bush kit. They won't mix so use either the new one - all of it or call TF/Betd and get a new heavy weight one and 4 bushes.

Buy a bush tool and bingo diy:

Tool

Posted 4 months ago #
goatster - Member

BTW your lucky to get that long out of bushes on a VPP bike, the way the shock is actuated creats a lot of wear on the bottom bush. I have had as little as a month in bad weather.
T

Posted 4 months ago #
sv - Member

Cheaper bushing tool here:

eBay linky

Works very well.

Posted 4 months ago #
goatster - Member

Cheers SV,

Duly ordered, I'll give it a try...

Posted 4 months ago #
CaptainMainwaring - Member

Thanks goatster, that's perfect. Don't know if I was lucky, but I pushed out the old bushing with the new one using a G-clamp. Clamp directly on to the new bush on one side, and a large socket the other to allow the bush to pop out.

I'll get new bits ordered from TF or BeTD

FYI, the longevity is probably due to the heavy duty bush. IIRC it was failing pretty regularly at first but then Bothy Bikes found the answer. I only ride in Scotland, and on pretty rocky terrain so the bike does get a fair hammering in mucky conditions

Posted 4 months ago #
goatster - Member

The HD bushes do last a lot longer and I'm running them too. But dont try and press a nylon bush that way it will split before it goes in, painful experiance of this trying to do one quick, wound up going back to work and using the press!!

T

Posted 4 months ago #
agentdagnamit - Member

That tool is great, I'm a convert from the usual socket set + hammer school of thought.

My first LT2 bushing lasted 2 years, the second lasted under 6 months. I'm using standard fox mounting kits.

It's a quick job to replace and the bushing are cheap on ebay for a pack of 10, I use it as an opportunity to do a quick air can check too.

Posted 4 months ago #
CaptainMainwaring - Member

agentdagnamit, how snug is your pivot bolt in the standard Fox top hat bushings? Seemed there was a bit of play when I tried the new ones on my bolt. That plus there being no locating over the raised rim on the pivot makes me think it would generate a bit of play that would end in at least some annoying clicks or squeaks?

Posted 4 months ago #
goatster - Member

CMW They never feel that tight through the bush until its all in place and bolted up. Put it all together and see if theres any play, if there is then the bolt is worn, this is pretty uncommon as the bush is designed to wear first.

T

Posted 4 months ago #
agentdagnamit - Member

Like Goatster said, I do the pivot bolts up tight and there is zero play. If anything you'd think the link would be difficult to move.

Maybe you have worn the mounting kit, obviously the bushings are designed to take the hit, but if you let them wear and keep riding the top hats / heavy duty bushes will eventually wear (oh, and the eye of the shock....!)

I just replaced standard top hats with a TFT heavy duty kit on a Prophet, and there is no play there either.

Are you 100% sure your top hats are the correct width? There's a tool on the TFT site that might help.

Posted 4 months ago #
pyro9n - Member

Had a Blur LT and now and LTc and they eat shock bushes like I eat cake!
Tend to get about a year from a set on my bike, but I have a h/t I ride as well.

Posted 4 months ago #
mark walker - Member

i was just about to post the same question. they are only lasting a few months on my sc nomad thanks cmw

Posted 4 months ago #
CaptainMainwaring - Member

Right, so done the first ride after the replacement and it all seems fine. Unknowingly I bought the standard Fox bushing kit with the top hats from SC, only to find that some time ago the LBS had replaced this with the through axle BeTD job.

Pushed the replacement hula hoop bushing in and found that the BeTD "axle" fitted nice and snug, as did the pivot bolt into the axle, so have used just the bushing from the kit and re-used the rest of the BeTD stuff.

At first my BLT2 was going through bushings every 3-4 months. Since the LBS changed it to the BeTD kit, that has gone up to about 9 months, even though it is getting harder use.

Moral of the story is to go for the BeTD kit when your bushing wears out. It's not much more expensive than the standard Fox jobs, but you get much longer life and can replace just the bushing itself at £5 a throw.

It's not surprising the top hat jobs wear the bushing pretty quickly as the contact area is only about half the width of the bush, whereas the BeTD one distributes the movement right the way across

Posted 4 months ago #

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