the screw that goes into the bolt, yes. i'm not sure about the bolt that goes through the rocker arm and brackets on the down tube. the bolt goes through the shock eyes and bushings of course. it would seem to be a place for grease, yet i think there's something about grease being incompatible with the bushing plastics or something… can't find anything definitive on the www. any mechanics or anyone who services their shocks have opinions on this one?
grease on shock mounting bolts?
It doesn't mention it in the above article, but certainly around here you'll be wanting to grease un-threaded parts of bolts / axles unless for some reason the official guidelines say no. We strip our higher end frames down and do this from new, and of course medium threadlocker on the threads. Such fun trying to remove axles that have seized themselves on to bearings / frame etc that haven't been greased….. Some bushings themselves are designed to be run dry, others not. You'd need to look that one up depending what frame you have.
treezz
wow you are a ass
good point. i'll have to ask Transition for certainty. on the Husaberg the shock bolts are thick steel through a plastic bushing in the eye and it comes with caution about no grease. it's meant to be metal on lubricious plastic.
Shock bolt yes, shock pin on shock bushing or igus bushing, no.
Shock bolt yes, shock pin on shock bushing or igus bushing, no.
this is the correct answer. the threaded screw that goes into the locating bolt gets either grease or loctite if your worried about it but the bolt through bushing nothing. igus and similar are lubricious plastics.
I'm going to be the dissenting voice on the "never grease an Igus bushing" discussion. I know all about the "lubricious plastic" theory, and in a dry climate or a well sealed bushing application I agree that greasing these would likely be counter productive.
However, if you have an unsealed bushing such as I have on my chain stay to seat stay bushing, you ride the PNW in the winter rain and mud and you can't afford a new $175 bushing and bearing kit every month or two, then it makes sense to grease the bushings, as long as you realize that once you do this, you have to continue to regularly take them apart, clean and regrease them. Otherwise, if you insist on running them dry, once mud works its way into the bushing area (and it always does) and impregnates the "lubricious" surface, it becomes a lot less less lubricious and more like you used carbon assembly paste to increase the friction instead, leading to binding and rapid wear.
Shock bushings tend to be sealed better, but I still seem to only get one winter out of them before they also get contaminated with grit. At that point you can either throw them away and get new ones or start cleaning and greasing them until you actually need to replace them because of wear / play.
Just my 2cents.
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