stripped shock mount

[davestradamus]

i am in the middle of painting the shocks on my 77 kz650 and i ran into a snag. it looks like the PO stripped one of the upper mounts. can this part be replaced? i cant see any welds and it looks like it might be threaded into the frame. HELP! i need to get back on the road!

cheers!
david

 

[bobjohnson]

Does the hole go right through the frame? Sorry, not familiar with these bikes, but, if it does go straight through, you could get a longer bolt and a nut, and tighten it up that way. Just remember to use a Grade 8 bolt, and loctite it.

Otherwise you could use a helicoil to rethread the hole, or drill it out and retap it one size bigger.

 

[davestradamus]

thanks for the reply! upon doing more research, it looks like the upper mount is threaded and tack welded into the frame with a larger diameter inside the frame. to replace it, i would have to drill it out and use a new bolt. or i could dye the old mount with a smaller diameter. i think my answer is going to be cross-threading the piss out of the existing bolt and redying if i ever take the shocks off again.

seems like it should be a more easily replaceable part....

cheers!
david

 

[Kanticoy]

Oh don't do that!

Just rethread it to the next smaller thread size. You'll be pissed when you have to take that shock off again!

 

[Rocan]

Oh don't do that!

Just rethread it to the next smaller thread size. You'll be pissed when you have to take that shock off again!

plus 1. dont do the half assed job. thats just as bad if not WORSE then the PO

 

[davestradamus]

ALAS, A SOLUTION!! only the first 2mm of the bolt was stripped. i carefully filed the junky parts down and cleaned up the threads with a wirebrush on a drill. the threads look just fine. i used old lug nuts from a saab, as they were the same thread pattern. they are deeper, thus allowing me to use fewer washers and access more good usable threads. turned out pretty good.

** note to others, try out lug nuts on your shock mounts, they are more heavy duty and look cool to boot.

cheers!
david