Before I destroy something good I better ask......

[Guest]

I've acquired a hayabusa shock that is in much better shape than my original. I've measured for length, and the only issue is fitting the clevis around the pivot arm on top. I marked with a sharpie how I need to remove but I don't want to compromise its strength. My gut says go for it but I figured I would defer those who are wiser before I start grinding

[7981GS]

That would not be a problem. I would do it without hesitation!

Eric

[chuck hahn]

That wont hurt anything..the main stress is gonna be at the bottomm where the stud has to hold agaisnt the compressions..grind away.

[Agemax]

it will be fine. there will still be plenty of metal left once ground off and when bolted up tight it will be just as strong

[cableguy]

That's what I was hoping. The grinding shall commence forthwith and posthaste.

[Agemax]

i would go with a decent file rather than an angle grinder! less chance of slipping up and regretting what you started. may take more time but will be more accurate

[posplayr]

One thing that has not been mentioned is to make sure you do not create a stress riser by filing in a sharp edge. Make sure that all corners are rounded as these are much less likely to break.

As a guide, look at the existing inside radius of how the left and right clevises join into the main body of the lower shock.

[cableguy]

I didnt know a stress riser was until I consulted my friend wiki, but what I think you're saying is not to change the thickness down at the bottom of the clevis, and try to match the contour of the pivot arm that the clevis will be fitting over, so as not to create focused stress points. Is that more or less correct?

[Dreef1999]

I think you got it. When transferring force through a material it kind of 'flows' and if you grind one location and create a sharp angle the the force could concentrate at that sharp angle and cause a crack to form. That crack will start tiny but will slowly migrate through the entire piece until it fractures.

to avoid that problem make sure you don't grind into a sharp angle. Make sure to radius the change of thickness.

the famous example is the comet airliner that blew up because the windows were too square instead of oval or round.

[posplayr]

I didnt know a stress riser was until I consulted my friend wiki, but what I think you're saying is not to change the thickness down at the bottom of the clevis, and try to match the contour of the pivot arm that the clevis will be fitting over, so as not to create focused stress points. Is that more or less correct?

as Dreef describes.......

hopefully the attached picture is also clear.

if you visualize the stresses in the concrete, you can better understand what a stress riser is. When external loads are distributed more uniformly then the internal stress of the material "does not " concentrate at a point . In the case of a sharp corner, the stresses in the material to either side of the corner are not stresses to much because the loads are more uniformly distributed. However, at the corner suddenly the same load create much more material stress at that point.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stress.JPG