SuzukiSavage.com - Rear Axle

Jaygee YaBB Newbies Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 3	Rear Axle - right side 09/01/17 at 19:18:43 I have a squealing drive belt, so I checked the rear axle alignment against the alignment marks and found the two sides were not quite the same. I loosened the right side rear axle nut and adjusted the alignment, but when I went to re-tighten the nut it won't tighten! It turns, but is not going tight. What gives?
Back to top	IP Logged

Gary_in_NJ Serious Thumper Offline LS650 Cafe Racer Posts: 2625 Amongst the Twisty Roads	Re: Rear Axle - right side Reply #1 - 09/01/17 at 19:35:05 Place a screw driver in the hole in the axle and then drive the nut
Back to top	A life-time student of motorcycling. LS650 Cafe, DRZ400SM, FZ6N, SV650S, CB900C, Ducati ST2, CB550F-SS My LS650=> http://suzukisavage.com/yabb2.2/Attachments/Left.JPG IP Logged

verslagen1 YaBB Moderator ModSquad Offline Where there's a will, I want to be in it. Posts: 28760 L.A. California Gender:	Re: Rear Axle - right side Reply #2 - 09/01/17 at 19:45:22 check the other side of the axle... does it turn too?
Back to top	Versey's Place Tech Section Index IP Logged

batman Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 3806 osceola new york Gender:	Re: Rear Axle - right side Reply #3 - 09/01/17 at 20:12:42 It could be that someone over tightened the nut and striped the threads,take the it apart and look at at it,it should only be torqued to 65 ft/lbs.
Back to top	my old work mates called me MacGyver IP Logged

justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: Rear Axle - right side Reply #4 - 09/01/17 at 21:43:31 Yes, the other side is turning. Two wrenches required or an impact And pulse the trigger.
Back to top	The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.- Edmund Burke. IP Logged

Jaygee YaBB Newbies Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 3	Re: Rear Axle - right side Reply #5 - 09/02/17 at 07:04:05 Ok, feeling like a real dummy! I was tightening the 17mm bolt and didn't notice that the 24mm nut on the other side was turning with it! Wrench on both sides - problem solved.
Back to top	IP Logged

Eegore Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 8006	Re: Rear Axle - right side Reply #6 - 09/02/17 at 08:20:37 Just an FYI those marks are good for individual adjustment but they don't have to match.
Back to top	IP Logged

piedmontbuckeye

Senior Member

Offline

Go Bucks!

Posts: 496
Easley, SC
Gender: male

Re: Rear Axle - right side
Reply #7 - 09/03/17 at 07:45:39

Eegore wrote on 09/02/17 at 08:20:37:

Just an FYI those marks are good for individual adjustment but they don't have to match.

Suzuki put those marks there for a reason. They are there to align the rear wheel with the frame/front wheel. So...unless you assume Suzuki really screwed up, the axle is only properly adjusted when the marks DO match up on both sides!

I worked at a Honda dealer for some years, and never once did we run into a bike where the marks were put on incorrectly by the mfg.

Back to top

"The difference between death and taxes is that death doesn't change every time congress meets." - Will Rogers

IP Logged

piedmontbuckeye

Senior Member

Offline

Go Bucks!

Posts: 496
Easley, SC
Gender: male

Re: Rear Axle - right side
Reply #8 - 09/03/17 at 07:48:30

Jaygee wrote on 09/01/17 at 19:18:43:

I have a squealing drive belt, so I checked the rear axle alignment against the alignment marks and found the two sides were not quite the same. I loosened the right side rear axle nut and adjusted the alignment, but when I went to re-tighten the nut it won't tighten! It turns, but is not going tight. What gives?

After aligning the rear wheel correctly by the marks, and making sure the belt has proper slack (1/4 turn on bottom of it) I have found that the best thing to do to get rid of the squealing is to use your wife's spray cooking oil (brand name is PAM). It works great and after thousands of miles, I can detect no problems or issues.

Back to top

"The difference between death and taxes is that death doesn't change every time congress meets." - Will Rogers

IP Logged

Eegore

Serious Thumper

Offline

SuzukiSavage.com
Rocks!

Posts: 8006

Re: Rear Axle - right side
Reply #9 - 09/03/17 at 10:06:28

I have three 1995 versions of this bike.

The tolerance is close but there are variables, with 3 bikes only one has an almost exact match on both sides and we use a shop with laser setup to align the rear pulley and belt now. I believe that bike is .3294mm forward on the left. We had to custom contrast paint the pulleys for the machine to make accurate readings.

Maybe all other bikes out there are set up to have an exact match on each side but I can guarantee two of mine don't. I have another swingarm coming in, I can have them all put on to one frame and see what measurements we get.

Back to top

IP Logged

piedmontbuckeye

Senior Member

Offline

Go Bucks!

Posts: 496
Easley, SC
Gender: male

Re: Rear Axle - right side
Reply #10 - 09/03/17 at 14:49:48

Eegore wrote on 09/03/17 at 10:06:28:

I have three 1995 versions of this bike.

The tolerance is close but there are variables, with 3 bikes only one has an almost exact match on both sides and we use a shop with laser setup to align the rear pulley and belt now. I believe that bike is .3294mm forward on the left. We had to custom contrast paint the pulleys for the machine to make accurate readings.

Maybe all other bikes out there are set up to have an exact match on each side but I can guarantee two of mine don't. I have another swingarm coming in, I can have them all put on to one frame and see what measurements we get.

I have never seen a manual (either owner's or service) but I don't think any of them say to use the swingarm marks to align the pulleys! I would bet that they say that the marks are there to align the wheel to the frame, not the pulleys to the belt or to each other.

Also, .3294mm is equivalent to .0129" or slightly under 13 thousandths of an inch- almost imperceptible to the eye except in certain situations. The swingarm marks are made for visible eyeball setting, not micrometer measurements. Again aligning the belt is different than aligning the wheel.

Back to top

"The difference between death and taxes is that death doesn't change every time congress meets." - Will Rogers

IP Logged

Steddy58 Full Member Offline Ooops I did it again Posts: 240 Liverpool UK Gender:	Re: Rear Axle - right side Reply #11 - 09/03/17 at 15:58:05 I got the marks lined up identical and when I took it to the mechanics for its annual test he said everything's OK but the wheels are out of alignment and he told me not to put too much faith in the marks
Back to top	1988 sav, mikuni vm36 carb (lancer),high comp piston, racing cam, raptor petcock, self-made exhaust, delkevic silencer (ryca header), K&N air filter, 48,000 miles IP Logged

Eegore Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 8006	Re: Rear Axle - right side Reply #12 - 09/03/17 at 19:55:21 Right .3924 is the bike that has lined up swingarm marks. The others do not but reflect an aligned front/rear pulley. Just an observation I have had with my bikes, but I have yet to place different swingarms on the same frame.
Back to top	IP Logged

gizzo Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiCabbage. It's Savage. Posts: 1318 Australia	Re: Rear Axle - right side Reply #13 - 09/03/17 at 20:55:47 I've worked on more than one bike with misaligned chain adjusting marks, too. Looking at you, Royal pain in the ass Enfield, Daelim, Suzuki and others. My Ducati doesn't even have any marks and I'm good with that.
Back to top	IP Logged

Armen

Serious Thumper

Offline

Half-Witted
Wrench-Jockey from
Jersey

Posts: 1431

Re: Rear Axle - right side
Reply #14 - 09/04/17 at 07:09:50

FWIW:
Many belt drive rear pulleys have one cast shoulder, and one pressed or screwed on shoulder. The cast one is always on the outside of the pulley.
If a wheel/belt was set up to load the inner ring of the pulley, it would be pushing against a lightly pressed on piece of sheet metal. Not good.
The way I do belt adjustment:
Jack under the bike. Rear wheel free to spin.
Get the slack pretty close.
Play with the adjusters so that the belt is fairly centered.
Turn the adjusters so that as the wheel is rotated, the belt slowly migrates to the outer (cast in) shoulder. Not so much that it is scraping against the edge.
Double check the belt slack.
Torque the axle nut.
Recheck the slack.
PS:
It's is usually easier to keep the adjustment if you have the axle nut on the right side of the bike, not the left.
(ask me why Wink

)

Back to top

In theory, theory and reality are the same. In reality, they aren't...

IP Logged