Need to separate the lower fork tube from the axle block to install cartridges for my 2019 R3. Does anyone know what tool I use for this set screw? Is it a Phillips? Allen?
That is four sided not six. Don't use an Allen. Also in forks if there happens to be a seal close, I would not use heat. If you are careful you might grind around on a Phillips and get a good fit. Do not mess it up or you'll have a real mess.
That looks like a plug that is designed to be removed with either an Allen key or JIS screwdriver. Either one shouldn't take much torque to remove. What's behind it? Grease port? -T
Isn't that like a jam nut of some sorts in the axle casting of the fork that in part stops the lower leg from un-threading?
Precisely. Shouldn’t be torqued too tight but from what I’ve read it’s loctited in place so I want to make sure I used the right tool and don’t make a mess of it.
Those are a PITA. It is certainly Loctited. I have the best luck with a small flat head screwdriver bit that fits in the slot and a hand impact tool, after applying heat.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ontel-Speed-Out-Speed-Out-Cobalt-Extractor-4-Piece-1000369/207096720 Speed-out and some heat then discard, you don't need them. Loctite the tube into the fork bottom.
Hand impact and heat did the trick for the set screw. Now if only separating the lower was as easy. Somehow the fork leg I had was rusty on the inside and took out some of the aluminum threads with it. I guess practice makes perfect. On to lower #2.
I wonder if you can take a soldering iron and just let it rest inside for a bit, just to gently soften up the loctite, without destroying rubber seals
That’s an interesting idea for the set screw. I was talking with an engineering friend and he suggested heat soaking the part in an oven to soften the loctite rather than localized heat on just the axle block.
Being that the housing is aluminum it really won’t take much heat to loosen the Sloptite and expand the housing enough to make the removal easy-peasy
For the set screw yes. Separating the axle block from the tube, not easy. Red is strong stuff. Or maybe I just don’t know the secret technique.
It wasn't rusty. That was the Loctite. And you trashed the threads when you separated the chrome slider from the stanchion because you didn't clean up the threads where the grub screw peened them over.
Square end mill and a good amount of heat is what I use. 3mm and 4mm. If you use quality tooling, you just touch the threads and it's good. I do maybe 20ish of these a year between R6 and R1. The Showa forks use a rubber tipped grub screw, so it's not an issue, but Kayaba doesn't want these things to come apart.
