Still having fork trouble

[Nobby 'C ']

I am having major difficulties removing the allen head screws from the bottom of the forks. I have tried an impact driver but it will not shift. Do you think I should try heat? Do you know if I can drill them out? Thanks for any advice.

[lhanscom]

I don't think heat would be a good idea, the internals wouldn't like it. Have you tried a cheater bar? Sometimes tightening it a bit before loosening it can break the threads free. Also hitting it with a hammer can help sometimes too.

[Anonymous]

I am having major difficulties removing the allen head screws from the bottom of the forks

Are you referring to the damper rod screw or the fork cap screws? The damper rod screw is easiest to get out with an impact wrench. Once you do break it loose, the damper rod will turn inside the fork and you either have to use the impact wrench or hold the damper rod with a tool to get it out.

The fork cap bolts just require standard removal techniques if they are stuck. Use penetrant, try working it back and forth (as suggested), mild (MILD!) heat and lots of patience. I would be reluctant to drill them, because if you screw up the hole, the slider is toast.

Mark

[HiSPL]

Put your spring and top cap back on and then try the breaker bar or impact driver.

[Anonymous]

If you're talking about the allen screws that take a 8mm or 5/16" allen wrench and go up from the very bottom, then they are the damper rod screws. As stated above, they will turn the damper rod inside the fork and won't loosen. There are various ways to deal with this problem, and I can help you.

If you're talking about different allen screws that won't turn at all, I don't know what they'd be.

[Nobby 'C ']

Tanks to all, especialy Luke. I am at the moment feeling very dumb. I am forever teaching the younger lads that join the submarine that if something will not loosen easily then give it a small tightening turn to get the threads moving then loosen it. However, I had forgotten this rule of thumb today!!! After reading your advice I gave it one hit with the impact driver to tighten it and then used it to loosen it. It came away quite easily in the end! I cannot do the other fork until Sunday as I have the duty all day tomorrow, so this thread may not be finnished yet. Just for future reference I am talking about the allen screws for the damper assembly. To hold the internals in place I am using a cut down 19mm allen key, 19mm socket and a couple of extension bars. This seems to work very well and is a lot cheaper than buying the proper Suzuki tool.

[crc1214]

Just for future reference, the bottom allen screws will loosen and not turn around freely IF the fork's internals are left as-is (i.e. loosen this screw as a first step)

The tension of the spring is enough to keep this screw from just spinning and spinning.

This is the practice most service shops actually use.

Chad
Columbus, OH 1978 GS550E

[Billy Ricks]

Nice tip crc. I've never understood all the talk about holding the dampers to get the bolts out. When I rebuilt my stock GS front end years ago I just kept outward pressure on the bolt and it came right out.

[crc1214]

Thanks Billy. I actually learned this while calling around to get my fork seals replaced. I told the shops I had the forks disassembled already, and they told me to put everything back as is - because that's how they get that bottom bolt out. Tried it myself next time I had them apart for a good cleaning - and it worked perfectly.

Chad
Columbus, OH 1978 GS550E