a-arm bushings
Thanks jeff for the input the lasted a hard race season from may till now so that is all I can ask they would have lasted longer but I wanted to replace them they were not real real bad but I am going to be decking the quad out with a suspension and what is the use of having a good suspension with wore bushings kinda defeats the purpose
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- Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2021 10:41 pm
Some confusion, Cannondale never intended for the inserts to be run dry -- it's just that so many have come from the factory without grease, that most of us have assumed that.... the steel inserts are a full .3mm oversize! to accomodate stiff grease, and still overdone too sloppy ( I hope they didn't do that for ease of installing the factory pre-assemblies -- I'd rather fiddle with the A-Arms for as long as it takes for a nice snug tolerance, and would still put a thin layer of grease on the bolts).
Anyway, please use a greaseless spray lube at very minimum. You can test the sloppy fit of the inserts over a new 10mm bolt -- you don't want that constant racking to pound dry which also adds to wear of the black delrins and everything else up front. Even racing, we should expect more than a mere season? They may feel tight at first, but only because of the frame squeeze like Jeff says....but if you are running them dry, you can bet those bolts are wearing out also.
using here greaseless spray(invisible dry) on the black bushings, then stiffest marine grease you can find, thinly on bolts and/or pre-painted within steel inserts with cotton swab, yes some minor greasy residue after break-in, then degrease with old toothbrush and hope for better wear -- you'll certainly get it!
Anyway, please use a greaseless spray lube at very minimum. You can test the sloppy fit of the inserts over a new 10mm bolt -- you don't want that constant racking to pound dry which also adds to wear of the black delrins and everything else up front. Even racing, we should expect more than a mere season? They may feel tight at first, but only because of the frame squeeze like Jeff says....but if you are running them dry, you can bet those bolts are wearing out also.
using here greaseless spray(invisible dry) on the black bushings, then stiffest marine grease you can find, thinly on bolts and/or pre-painted within steel inserts with cotton swab, yes some minor greasy residue after break-in, then degrease with old toothbrush and hope for better wear -- you'll certainly get it!
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- Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2021 10:41 pm
I took and drilled through the a-arms and bushings and put on grease zerks. It may be the worng thing to do if they are supposed to be ran dry but it sure did make them work good! Even after a hard season they were still pretty tight. Add a little grease and they were even tighter. My first dale I ran dry and they seemed to wear out pretty quick. In my opinion greas is good. But grease = dirt aswell. How is everyone else running theirs?