Hi, I'm trying to change the main bearing on my wife's El Guapo, when I undo the main pivot bolt in stead of unscrewing out the drive side something is getting stuck and splaying the ends of the swing arm apart. Any ideas?
Excuse the severed toes in the photo!
[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7093/7034449925_d0cdc0a351.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimbosussexmtb/7034449925/ ]El Guapo main pivot bearing[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/jimbosussexmtb/ ]www.sussex-mtb.com[/url], on Flickr
It might just be binding a bit. It is just a pin that goes through. I'd be tempted to pour a couple of kettles of boiling water over it. Squirt a bit of penetrating lube in there. That sort of thing.
I can ask our Neil tommorow. He'll know.
Cheers, I gave it a good squirting and it still won't budge at present
Not sure if it's the same set up but I've just changed all the bearings in my Switchblade and the main pivot bolt was seized into some of the bearings as a result of corrosion. A bit of GT85 and gentle tapping freed it up. Sounds to me as though yours is binding in the drive side swing arm and as it unscrews from the non-drive side it's splaying the stays. It's quite fine tolerances and I found I had to support and waggle the chain stay gently to avoid binding.
EDIT: Actually I can't see how it will splay the stays?