How to replace swingarm boot?

[slowindown 494]

So I was checking over my old rancher and I noticed the small end of the swing arm boot was not all the way on. On closer inspection it had a hole in it. How do you go about getting the drive shaft out of the way to change this boot? 

 

The manual says pull the rear diff and then remove the swing arm bolt. I was thinking there was an easier way?

 

I had to cut the clamps off. There was no cap over the swing arm bolt on the right side. So it was full of dirt. There is one on the left side. 

[shadetree 5,543]

just remove the swing arm bolts, rear brake cables, drop the whole swing arm down, and back a tad, this will give you enough room to remove the old boot once you slide the drive shaft off the output shaft, install new boot. you will need a 17mm allen wrench to remove the swing arm bolts from both sides. right side swing arm bolt has a lock nut on it, DONT WORRY ABOUT IT !, just remove the inner bolt, left side is a solid bolt.

[shadetree 5,543]

this is also a good time to inspect the swing arm bearings !.

[slowindown 494]

Thanks Shadetree.  I will call my not quite local dealer and see if they're open tomorrow and have the parts. . . and hope I can find a 17mm Allen wrench somewhere, maybe harbor freight.

[shadetree 5,543]

14 minutes ago, slowindown said:

Thanks Shadetree.  I will call my not quite local dealer and see if they're open tomorrow and have the parts. . . and hope I can find a 17mm Allen wrench somewhere, maybe harbor freight.

harbor freight should have that 17mm allen wrench. i hear they are only letting in folks so many at a time in the store ?. and yw :-).

[shadetree 5,543]

a 2-3 ft cheater pipe might be needed to use the wrench ?, some of them bolts are tight !..lol. or you can smack the end with a rubber mallet ?, but i find using a cheater pipe slid over the wrench works faster.

[slowindown 494]

Yeah, I'm particularly worried about the one that didn't have a cap on it.  I go out and spray pb blaster on it occasionally.

[shadetree 5,543]

5 minutes ago, slowindown said:

Yeah, I'm particularly worried about the one that didn't have a cap on it.  I go out and spray pb blaster on it occasionally.

those caps are useless !, they dont keep anything out of there, all they are for ?..looks !..lol.

[slowindown 494]

57 minutes ago, shadetree said:

those caps are useless !, they dont keep anything out of there, all they are for ?..looks !..lol.

 

You're exactly right!  I went out there and pulled the plug and it was full of dirt. 

[Fishfiles 19,716]

7 minutes ago, slowindown said:

 

You're exactly right!  I went out there and pulled the plug and it was full of dirt. 

Them plastic caps are cosmetic   I pack the cavity of the swing arm pivot bolts with marine grease before sticking the cap Back on.  If you don’t have a 17 mm  Allen Socket.  Take a 1/2 drive 17 mm socket , preferably  impact quality , and cut a chunk off a 17 mm Allen key with a grinder. Put it into the socket and you got a heavy duty socket to remove the pivot bolts. 

[jeepwm69 7,222]

Autozone will have a 17mm Allen socket.  You're actually better off buying the set of 5-6 sockets as the set is $20 or so, and the single 17MM is like $8.

 

They have a lifetime warranty on them so if you break it you just swap it out.

[slowindown 494]

I ended up getting a set of impact allen sockets at harbor freight. 

 

On the right bolt I used a cheater bar.  The bolt AND the funny shaped lock nut started coming out together.  I tightened it back up, working it back and forth with wd40 and pb blaster and then the bolt backed out.  The lock nut stayed in place.  The one on the left side would not budge with the cheater.  I had to use an impact to break it free. I havent taken them all the way out yet, just got them so they would turn.

 

The honda dealer didn't have the boot or clamps in stock.  They ordered them and said they'd have them in 3-5 days.

Edited April 6, 2020 by slowindown

[shadetree 5,543]

4 minutes ago, slowindown said:

I ended up getting a set of impact allen sockets at harbor freight. 

 

On the right bolt I used a cheater bar.  The bolt AND the funny shaped lock nut started coming out together.  I tightened it back up, working it back and forth with wd40 and pb blaster and then the bolt backed out.  The lock nut stayed in place.  The one on the left side would not budge with the cheater.  I had to use an impact to break it free. I havent taken them all the way out yet, just got them so they would turn.

 

The honda dealer didn't have the boot or clamps in stock.  They ordered them and said they'd have them in 3-5 days.

sounds like you made progress...other than having to wait on the parts ?, your doing great !.

[shadetree 5,543]

did you have a look at the swing arm bearings ?, now would be a good time to replace if they are bad ? while your having to drop the swing arm !.

[Fishfiles 19,716]

I would add , when you go to slide that swing arm back to get that boot in , I would use a jack with a plate or plywood over the end , so as to make a platform to hold the swingarm level , it will make life easier sliding it both out and in , and when you do slide the swing arm  back , use a pry-bar or large screw driver and get between the u-joint hub and output shaft housing , so that the drive shaft stays in the pinion seal of the diff and doesn't not pull out the diff , cause if you got dirt , water , rust inside that swingarm tube it will go right into the diff when you stick that drive shaft back in 

[slowindown 494]

Will do.  Good advice.

[AKATV 745]

Keep in mind, I dont know if you are going by the manual or not, but when you put the swingarm bolts back in. the left side gets cranked down to 83ft lbs first

then the right side (side with lockring) which calls for 3-7ft lbs for the bolt depending on year, you dont want to crank too much more than that on the right side bolt, as it will start to spread the frame open. I usually just tighten till you just see or feel the frame start to spread then tighten down the lockring to 83 lbs.

 If  you are not removing the lock ring, it should put you back close to where you were originally. If you are not going to mess with the lockring, I recommend using some blue loctite on the right side bolt threads as 3-7ft lbs is not super tight and you dont want that backing out on you and dropping the rear end 15 miles back in the willywags

I usually pack some grease in there and will clean off the lip of the hole with brake cleaner and put some rtv black around the the edge of the cap to seal when it goes back on to keep water out, its worked well through the years and you can pop them back off with a screwdriver if you need to later

Also, I wanted to let you know your speedometer is out for delivery here today ,I will shoot you a message once its in I and get started working on it

 

Edited April 6, 2020 by AKATV

[slowindown 494]

Thanks for the pointers.  The rust probably requires 7ft lbs to turn through. lol  And thanks for sending me the pic of the display. Looks great. 

Edited April 7, 2020 by slowindown

[retro 3,871]

4 hours ago, AKATV said:

I usually pack some grease in there and will clean off the lip of the hole with brake cleaner and put some rtv black around the the edge of the cap to seal when it goes back on to keep water out, its worked well through the years and you can pop them back off with a screwdriver if you need to later

 

I use black RTV gasket maker too, works great to keep water & mud out and prevent rust. Great tip!

[Fishfiles 19,716]

slowindown , I snap a pic of what I was trying to explain before , as I have the swing arm off mine right now cause I pulled the engine , when the rear end is attached to the swing arm it makes it hard to stab back in by yourself , so I put the  jack under it and it slides in and out and lines up easy 

[shadetree 5,543]

4 minutes ago, Fishfiles said:

slowindown , I snap a pic of what I was trying to explain before , as I have the swing arm off mine right now cause I pulled the engine , when the rear end is attached to the swing arm it makes it hard to stab back in by yourself , so I put the  jack under it and it slides in and out and lines up easy 

you kinda forgot to tell him, remove the rear center shock though ?..lol.

[AKATV 745]

I think leaving the shock would help to hold the swingarm up and somewhat centered and allow it to pivot back intead of just flopping around free, (its heavy)

I have done one freehand without a jack and its a bear to line it all up by yourself and get the pivot bolts to line up while holding it up and then to

get u jpoint splines to line up and drop in. Gotta hold your mouth just right...😳

I think the support board with the jack and leaving the shock attached is the way to go, as I cant yank them engines out and carry them around like I used too...haha

I like all the ideas I see here on working smarter not harder nowdays, the old back lets me know when to slow down a bit

 

Also a tip on getting the u-joint splines to drop onto the output shaft is when you have the u-joint butted up against the output shaft and the splines are not quite

mated up, just turn the rear hub (or tire)  by hand a bit to spin the rear driveshaft a hair and it will drop right in (watch you fingers)

[AKATV 745]

45 minutes ago, Fishfiles said:

slowindown , I snap a pic of what I was trying to explain before , as I have the swing arm off mine right now cause I pulled the engine , when the rear end is attached to the swing arm it makes it hard to stab back in by yourself , so I put the  jack under it and it slides in and out and lines up easy 

 

[AKATV 745]

The boards under the jack are great help too- I am usually in hurry and forget and I have have a gravel driveway...or snow.....-grrrr

Now a little pre-planning goes a long way to making a job easier in the long run....

[shadetree 5,543]

1 hour ago, AKATV said:

I think leaving the shock would help to hold the swingarm up and somewhat centered and allow it to pivot back intead of just flopping around free, (its heavy)

I have done one freehand without a jack and its a bear to line it all up by yourself and get the pivot bolts to line up while holding it up and then to

get u jpoint splines to line up and drop in. Gotta hold your mouth just right...😳

I think the support board with the jack and leaving the shock attached is the way to go, as I cant yank them engines out and carry them around like I used too...haha

I like all the ideas I see here on working smarter not harder nowdays, the old back lets me know when to slow down a bit

 

Also a tip on getting the u-joint splines to drop onto the output shaft is when you have the u-joint butted up against the output shaft and the splines are not quite

mated up, just turn the rear hub (or tire)  by hand a bit to spin the rear driveshaft a hair and it will drop right in (watch you fingers)

yes, the shock does help hold the rear end up, but !!, it wont allow you to level the swing arm for a straight stab at the output shaft ?, but still..having a jack under it will help hold it up..your right..it is heavy !..lol.