Fork caps impossible to remove....any similar experience and best practice?

[johnnymot1]

I'm working on a front fork spring replacement, front end overhall and for the life of me, I cannot get the aluminum fork caps off either fork of my bike. I followed the factory manual at first and removed the forks before attempting, but quickly wised up and put one of the tubes back in the triple clamps on the bike, keeping the upper clamp a bit loose, but even with that, the aluminum nut is about to be stripped, from using a 17mm well fitting socket and a long breaker bar for the proper leverage.

I even gave it a shot on my other FT500 sitting next to it, and seems like it's the same thing.  It's almost as if the aluminum has bonded to the steel?  Does anyone have any tried and true soak or liquid wrench treatment they can recommend?  I'm usually pretty adept at removing stuck fasteners, but this one is about to get me and damage my fork caps.

[thumperdh]

Same story over here. I made the mistake of trying to mine in a rush and ended up having to order a new cap for the left side. Just take your time and use every tool at your disposal. Remember the caps are aluminum and butter soft.

[J6G1Z]

Try tightening the cap just a hair & see if you can get it to move, then try to loosen it. Unfortunately there wasn't any anti-sieze put on the threads from the factory & the fork caps have had a long time to bind up.

Supposedly automatic transmission fluid & either acetone or mineral spirits makes a good penetrating oil & rust buster.


Good Luck
J.

[johnnymot1]

I actually tried light tapping with a brass bar on the top and sides, tightening, liquid wrench, tapping under the torque of the wrench, and I ended up destroying one of the caps. I really wasn't in any hurry, but my tried and true experience got licked on this one.

I ended up grabbing a spare front end I have, disassembled and turned each fork leg upside down in a container filled with a mix of mineral spirits and ATF and I'm going to let them soak for days and then start over. I'll update in a day or so if it actually works.

I'd started off less than perfect when I chewed up a few axle bolt threads on one of the fork legs taking off the front wheel, a consequence of blindly following the honda factory manual and not completely removing the axle cinch bolt but rather merely "loosening the axle shat holder nut" as it stated, and making a few turns of steel against aluminum before I realized the axle needed some help to actually come out.

I'm wondering if applying a little heat via torch to the parts will work and not damage the o rings?

[J6G1Z]

O-rings are usually fairly easy to replace. I think I'd try the heat.

Do you have a bench mounted vise & some thick leather? You may have to wrap the fork leg in leather & mount it in the vise. Be careful to only tighten as much as needed to prevent the fork leg from twisting.

Good Luck
J.

[johnnymot1]

A quick update in case anyone else encounters this. After soaking each fork tube upside down in a mixture of ATF and mineral spirits for three days to let the home made liquid wrench work into the threads, I took each tube, put it back in the triple clamps, (tightening the lower clamp) and each fork cap came off with very little effort.

Patience and several days soaking, seems to be the key, at least for me!

[J6G1Z]

Good deal! That ATF & Mineral Spirits/Acetone makes for a good penetrating oil.


J.

[Slyphon]

Did you do the dampening bolt as well? I'm rebuilding my CBR forks and can't seem to get the blasted thing to loosen at all. It's been soaking in PB Blaster for several days too.