ripped heim joints out of ladder bar?????
- Thread starter Histicku
- Start date
Poor Welds?
Gorilla
Senior Moderator
Sounds un-usual to me. Contact Motortrike, I bet they will take care of you.
TrikerMimi
TOI - Illinois
I know this is sort of an old post, but the SAME THING happened to our 03 1800 with the Motor Trike conversion. The suspension actually SHIFTED and the driveshaft fell out completely!!! Thank God hubby had just started it and it happened in the garage!!! Anyway, we took it to a bike builder friend of ours and he replaced all the heim joints with heavy duty versions with a teflon ring between the ball and the eye. That keeps out dirt and water and keeps them from weakening. (At least that's what we were told) He also told us to have the ladder bar suspension checked every year and make sure everything is tight. She rides like a dream now. Don't know if you still need this info or not, but someone else might also. Good luck!
wingking51
Contributing Member
The same thing happened to my friends trike this summer. When he contacted Motor Trike about it they told him that they were not having a problem with the joints. It appears that they do have a problem.
I would be interested in where the heavy duty heim joints could be bought.
We have a motor trike kit on our 1500 and have a couple heim joints that squeek when we go around a corner. When I talked to motor trike they were not any help,all they said was to oil them. When I told them that I gave them all a shot of silicone at every oil change and was told that is all I could do.
If I can find a place to buy the heave duty ones I am going to replace all of them.
The dealer here in Michigan ,West Michigan Motor Sports that installed the kit went out business shortly after we received our trike, so I am going to fix it myself.
We have a motor trike kit on our 1500 and have a couple heim joints that squeek when we go around a corner. When I talked to motor trike they were not any help,all they said was to oil them. When I told them that I gave them all a shot of silicone at every oil change and was told that is all I could do.
If I can find a place to buy the heave duty ones I am going to replace all of them.
The dealer here in Michigan ,West Michigan Motor Sports that installed the kit went out business shortly after we received our trike, so I am going to fix it myself.
Are you saying the threaded portion of the heim joint stripped out? If so was it the heim joint itself or the threaded hole in the ladder portion that stripped? If the ladder portion is stripping, replacing the heim joint wont be the proper fix.
Wayne,
Sorry I did not see your post earlier.
The squeak you are hearing is coming from one or three areas of your suspension.
1) Any of the heim joint swivals (These should be greased once in awhile)
2) Any of the loose heim joint threads. (They will squeak as the ladder bar rotates slightly during any suspension movement).
3) Any of your shock mounting bolts. (This is where you would use the silicone spray).
Raise the rear end of your trike at least a foot off the ground. Support it on a couple of good sturdy jackstands.
You need to look closely at the heim joints. Here is what you are looking for:
1) Are the jam nuts tightly against the ladder bar ends?
If you can get your thumb nail or a business card between the jam nut and the end of the ladder bar it is not tight.
Using a wrench, if you can turn the jam nut with very little effort it has come loose or was never tightend correctly. If you can spin the nut just with you thumb and finger then there is a good chance loctite was never applied.
2) If you find the nut(s) to be loose, go ahead and back it away from the ladder bar end. Turn the jam nut all the way to the end of the joints threads to give you some room.
Using a very bright flashlight look at the threaded portion of the heim joint which threads into the ladder bar. Do you see any rust at the opening of the ladder bar end? Are there any threads on the heim joint with a dusty powder look to them? Look at the jam nuts themselves, do you see any rusty powder on the face that contacts the ladder bar or any dust cresting over the edge of the nut?
If you answer yes to any of these three questions, the nuts are loose. The ladder bar system integrity may have possibly become compromised.
If this becomes the case you will have to try to move the ladder bar up and down at the entrance of the joint into the ladder bar. You are now looking to see if the system is possibly worn out. You may have to have a compedant dealer check this portion out for you. The squeak will go away for a short time. But if you indeed have loose heim joint jam nuts you will have a bigger problem to deal with.
One other item I just thought about. Inspect the large bolts and nuts that mount the ladder bar to the rear end mounts. They have a habit of coming loose and moving with the pivot of the heim joint and squeaking while doing so. By the way, I replace all of the rear end mounting bolts and nuts on any Motor Trike conversion with nothing less than grade eight (8) hardware, and lots of loctite. Better to be safe that real sorry.
Mike
Sorry I did not see your post earlier.
The squeak you are hearing is coming from one or three areas of your suspension.
1) Any of the heim joint swivals (These should be greased once in awhile)
2) Any of the loose heim joint threads. (They will squeak as the ladder bar rotates slightly during any suspension movement).
3) Any of your shock mounting bolts. (This is where you would use the silicone spray).
Raise the rear end of your trike at least a foot off the ground. Support it on a couple of good sturdy jackstands.
You need to look closely at the heim joints. Here is what you are looking for:
1) Are the jam nuts tightly against the ladder bar ends?
If you can get your thumb nail or a business card between the jam nut and the end of the ladder bar it is not tight.
Using a wrench, if you can turn the jam nut with very little effort it has come loose or was never tightend correctly. If you can spin the nut just with you thumb and finger then there is a good chance loctite was never applied.
2) If you find the nut(s) to be loose, go ahead and back it away from the ladder bar end. Turn the jam nut all the way to the end of the joints threads to give you some room.
Using a very bright flashlight look at the threaded portion of the heim joint which threads into the ladder bar. Do you see any rust at the opening of the ladder bar end? Are there any threads on the heim joint with a dusty powder look to them? Look at the jam nuts themselves, do you see any rusty powder on the face that contacts the ladder bar or any dust cresting over the edge of the nut?
If you answer yes to any of these three questions, the nuts are loose. The ladder bar system integrity may have possibly become compromised.
If this becomes the case you will have to try to move the ladder bar up and down at the entrance of the joint into the ladder bar. You are now looking to see if the system is possibly worn out. You may have to have a compedant dealer check this portion out for you. The squeak will go away for a short time. But if you indeed have loose heim joint jam nuts you will have a bigger problem to deal with.
One other item I just thought about. Inspect the large bolts and nuts that mount the ladder bar to the rear end mounts. They have a habit of coming loose and moving with the pivot of the heim joint and squeaking while doing so. By the way, I replace all of the rear end mounting bolts and nuts on any Motor Trike conversion with nothing less than grade eight (8) hardware, and lots of loctite. Better to be safe that real sorry.
Mike
Well......I know what I am doing this weekend
What is the best lube to use on the heim joints?
Having to check the nuts and bolts on a regular basis ( Maintenance ) for tightness; on the running gear Yes, but pulling a Heim out I think is Rare,,,,,I use PDRP ( a little hard to find ) or a Good Silicone Spray
I found the left hand side heim joint on the swing arm joint of the ladder bar had flogged out. I thought I had tightened it before our big trip across the country (Australia - easy coast to west coast over 10,000 km done in 30 days). When we arrived back home I started doing some post trip maintenance and found the nut had backed off again. On deeper inspection it was the heim joint flogging out the threaded welded nut on the ladder bar:
So I was able to purchase a threaded insert from a local hot rod parts supplier along with the 5/8 heim joint and some silicon spray. Took the ladder bar to my brother in laws shed and drilled out the offending bit and screwed in the insert and the heim joint. When I started assembling it back onto the bike, I found that the distance from swing arm pivot to the rear section of the ladder bar was around 30 - 40 mm out compared to the other side of the bike. This has now been fixed, and the bike feels much better in corners.
I love getting my hands dirty on my trike.
So I was able to purchase a threaded insert from a local hot rod parts supplier along with the 5/8 heim joint and some silicon spray. Took the ladder bar to my brother in laws shed and drilled out the offending bit and screwed in the insert and the heim joint. When I started assembling it back onto the bike, I found that the distance from swing arm pivot to the rear section of the ladder bar was around 30 - 40 mm out compared to the other side of the bike. This has now been fixed, and the bike feels much better in corners.
I love getting my hands dirty on my trike.
Where did you get the teflon heim jounts?
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