1986 KDX200 Shock Rebuild
Posted: 03:23 pm Feb 11 2023
Decided to try my hand at rebuilding the rear shock due to a leaky seal. No big surprise the was no nitrogen left. The bladder was intact. Prying the aluminum cap off to expose the retaining clip was more challenging than expected, but with some lube and two punches she came out. Underneath the cap was 37 years of grit packed in over the top of the clip and seal. A little cleaning later and I could see the top of the seal…driving this down into the body to expose the clip was a major effort as the seal seemed to be corroded to the body. Once down next up was fighting with the clip to get it out of the groove. Now with the last restraint removed you’d think it would simply slide apart…oh no she was fighting all the way. Finally I was able to remove the shaft, seal and piston. The top of the shaft was mushroomed over (by design). I read that people will grind it off flat to the nut, but I just slowly worked the nut off. A ribbon of metal from the mushroomed end came off, but I retapped the nut and end of the shaft. Unfortunately I never took a picture so here is where my questions start (sorry for the long lead in). I don’t recall if the entire shim stack and piston are supposed to be so tight that they don’t spin even with the nut tight. I recall there was some play, but now with the nut tight (25 ft lbs) nothing moves. Am I remembering things correctly, should the shim stack be able to rotate when the nut is tight? How do you lock the nut to the shaft..lock tight red or take a hammer and punch to dimple the thread on the shaft at the end by the nut so it can’t back off? I think when i recut the threads on the shaft I might have gone a little too far and this is why the shim stack is too tight…any suggestions on how to limit the travel of the nut but get the correct spacing and torque? Any insight is greatly appreciated.