FIXED (sorta): Front shifter shaft lever pinch bolt snapped

[emskee]

Hey folks.

Been a while.

Need help.

Okay, July 2016, the shifter shaft lever went loose on the freeway. Could barely fit my allen wrench in there, but was able to get a few degrees of tightening on it.

Limped home, tightened it up properly and all has been good.

Yesterday it went loose again.

I backed out the bolt, reapplied thread lock and torqued it back in. Snugged it up until the lever was tight to the shaft.

Get ready to ride away today, wiggle the shaft just to be sure and half of the bolt falls to the floor.

The remaining bolt body in the lever makes it impossible to slide the lever off of the shaft.

Cannot ride it.

My question: WTF?

Do I sacrifice the lever by cutting it near the pinch body, rotate and dremel away until it can be removed, hoping to save the shaft?

Do I sacrifice the shaft by cutting it off adjacent to the lever and THEN try to save the lever by somehow removing the remaining section of the bolt? One of you made the point in July 2016 that the shaft is hardened steel.

Anyway, any ideas?

Thanks,

Mike

[RKplus10]

How about loosening pinch bolt on inside lever and sliding out shaft? If that works maybe it would be easier on work bench. Drill and easy out?

[emskee]

How about loosening pinch bolt on inside lever and sliding out shaft? If that works maybe it would be easier on work bench. Drill and easy out?

It is that very pinch bolt which has snapped. The part remaining sits in the radial recess in the shaft making it impossible to slide the lever off.

[rhino 2]

Can you get a flathead screw driver in the slit and stretch/pry the slit open...For want of a better explanation , Like opening a clam shell . And yes the shaft is harden, The pinch arm is softer so as not to ware out or groove the shaft....Ive changed a few of them on ATC's, And on my Ex-11 Tri, I once had to pry it off file the slit wider and then use a new bolt to tighten it.....

[emskee]

Can you get a flathead screw driver in the slit and stretch/pry the slit open...For want of a better explanation , Like opening a clam shell . And yes the shaft is harden, The pinch arm is softer so as not to ware out or groove the shaft....Ive changed a few of them on ATC's, And on my Ex-11 Tri, I once had to pry it off file the slit wider and then use a new bolt to tighten it.....

Hey, how ya been?

Yes you are who previously informed me that the shaft is hardened way back when.

Sounds provocative what you offer.

I will remove the linkage, the heel and toe shifter and see if I cannot rotate the shaft enough to be able to get a screw driver in there to pry. So far, I cannot fit one in due to interfering bike structures.

My worry is that the remaining bolt will still ride in the groove. But with rotation, maybe I'll be ablke to see.

Thanks.

[rhino 2]

Hey, how ya been?

Yes you are who previously informed me that the shaft is hardened way back when.

Sounds provocative what you offer.

I will remove the linkage, the heel and toe shifter and see if I cannot rotate the shaft enough to be able to get a screw driver in there to pry. So far, I cannot fit one in due to interfering bike structures.

My worry is that the remaining bolt will still ride in the groove. But with rotation, maybe I'll be ablke to see.

Thanks.

Hope that works, If it does loosen on the lever you can slide it off the shaft an it will drop to the ground ,If the pinch part is still good , file the slit a little this way it will grip the shaft better....And don't over tighten...

[emskee]

....And don't over tighten...

Yeah, oops, right?

You know when I pulled it out to Loctite it, and I looked at the bolt it had that dullish look right near where it broke today. Should've recognized that as a bit of work hardening from the last effort in '16. A "smart guy" might've pulled out a new bolt at that time. If only I had a smart gu with me at the time.

I will say it did NOT break yesterday. I tightened it until it stopped moving, all was good, wiggled and giggled the linkage and all was well. Backed her 10 feet into the corner.

This morning pulled her 10 feet into the middle of the garage, shook the shifter and

snap...boing, bounce, bounce, bounce."

Had it snapped yesterday, it would have fallen out immediately.

Will give it a shot next time the back is supple enough for me to ball up and hit the floor...tomorrow in the a.m. I hope.

Will post and thanks!

[MDO]

If you go to minute 3:55 of the video I'm gonna link you to, John Maxwell, a HD tech at a dealer in Georgia will show you how to check it & fix it. They redesigned that linkage on the new M8 motor, because they new it needed it! Good Luck!

[Jack Klarich]

The arm on the tranny got a make over also

The 15-6 was pretty flimsy IMO

[emskee]

[QUOTE=MDO;565837]If you go to minute 3:55 of the video I'm gonna link you to, John Maxwell, a HD tech at a dealer in Georgia will show you how to check it & fix it. They redesigned that linkage on the new M8 motor, because they new it needed it! Good Luck!

@ 4:13 "damaged threads." That's what I (think I) ignored and then put the damn thing back in.

Beautiful video, you are a gentleman, thanks!

We'll see how far I get................

[emskee]

The arm on the tranny got a make over also

The 15-6 was pretty flimsy IMO

My buying experiences always go like this: "New for (the year I bought whatever it is plus 1), a redesigned and VASTLY improved (what failed on what I bought)"

[emskee]

Okay.

Disconnected lever from linkage and rotated it to find enough of the pinch bolt sticking out that I could Dremel a slot in it. Ground a screwdriver diameter down to fit inside the threaded part of the lever and backed the remaining half screw out the way it came. It reads easier than it was to do. First tried to rotate it to continue on through and out, but the damaged end of the bolt was not inclined to make it through the threads.

Then took a long while to work the lever off of the shaft.

Had to tap a screw driver into the slot and work it like all hell to get off.

The splines in the lever and on the shaft were both pretty munged, with enough fold over and twists that the two parts were kinda formed together and not inclined to un-mate.

I'll take it all up to the dealer and see if I can get the "better" replacements.

Thanks all.

Happy Friday!!!

[BillR]

I'll take it all up to the dealer and see if I can get the "better" replacements.

Thanks all.

Happy Friday!!!

Check out posts 1308 and 1309 in this thread. Might be a good option since you're going to replace it anyway.

https://www.triketalk.com/forum/thre...097#post566097

[RKplus10]

Your post caused me to check my pinch bolt. It was loose. Threads looked fine, so I reapplied locktite. Sorry about your problem, but you saved me.

[emskee]

Check out posts 1308 and 1309 in this thread. Might be a good option since you're going to replace it anyway.

That is cool. But I'll save my $$$$ and buy something useless.

The shaft I pulled actually looks pretty good; I sometimes squirt a little Boeshield in there.

[emskee]

Your post caused me to check my pinch bolt. It was loose. Threads looked fine, so I reapplied locktite. Sorry about your problem, but you saved me.

Super! Thanks for letting me know.

[Burnerboy]

Guys, I have no idea how/where you get all these videos to watch every time a question is asked BUT I am amazed how you come up with all these videos...Thumb's up to you folks that come on these threads to help, us all out.....THAT WAS AN AMAZE'ING POST on how to tighten down a shifting linkage.. my hat off to each and everyone of you that come on here to help us all out!

Thank you all,

Ronnie

[MDO]

Guys, I have no idea how/where you get all these videos to watch every time a question is asked BUT I am amazed how you come up with all these videos...Thumb's up to you folks that come on these threads to help, us all out.....THAT WAS AN AMAZE'ING POST on how to tighten down a shifting linkage.. my hat off to each and everyone of you that come on here to help us all out!

Thank you all,

Ronnie

YouTube has some useful stuff.

You have to take what you need and leave the rest.

When I 1st. got my 2017 FW home, I searched there for maintenance on the new M8 motor and found lots of info, some useful to me and some not.

[Jack Klarich]

YouTube has some useful stuff.

You have to take what you need and leave the rest.

When I 1st. got my 2017 FW home, I searched there for maintenance on the new M8 motor and found lots of info, some useful to me and some not.

I could not agree more

Dr Google is a good friend indeed, however as Michael says take what u need and forget the rest