Broken Penske Clevis.

[Fred W]

Josh, when you pull that off, post a picture of it and the bolt that fastens it to the lower relay arm. This thing broke for a reason, and it's possible you have the wrong bolt?

Will do. The bolt I used was the same one that came with the stock shock. I may ask Penske to send me the one they recommend if that is different than what I currently have.

That may be the wrong bolt and the reason the clevis tab broke. Not a design problem, it's an installation problem.

The wrong bolt will squeeze the two sides of the U towards each other under tension. The correct bolt is shaped such that it will float in the hole on one side and tighten up only on the threaded end.

This happened to Mr Bill here also. Ask for new mounting hardware with the new clevis.

 

[Ignacio]

This happened to Mr Bill here also.

And me...twice unfortunately. Denial, on my part, has given way to acceptance..and why I jumped on this point in the 2nd post of this thread.

 

[Fred W]

I saw that, Matt, but the OP was still not getting the idea that he had the wrong mounting bolt, Hopefully that is totally clear now.

 

[TomInPA]

I would still like to see a picture of the OEM bolt vs the Penske replacement. As best I can tell, I may be in the same boat as Josh using the OEM, since a mounting bolt did not come with my used shock. Unlike Josh, I have several years of use going, but that's no assurance I won't have a failure if I impact something wrong.

 

[rPGoatBoy]

For future reference:

Clovis I, First king of the Franks*

Clevis:

/nitpick

*Hat tip to Dan Carlin's Hardcore History Podcast

 

[Cav47]

Very funny about the Clovis vs Clevis. I wondered why it kept capitalizing it on my phone.

Fred, Since I bought the shock 2nd hand, I had no idea the bolt was incorrect. As soon as I get some time to call, I am going to order both the correct bolt and a replacement CLEVIS. No denial present, just ignorance. But I am very glad forum members have great vision and know so much of the minutia that relates to all things FJR. It was Iggy that was in denial and had to have 2 fixed. He is the stubborn one, I am just the clueless one. LOL



Tom, I will get pics up as soon as I get back to the house and work on it some more.

 

[wheatonFJR]

For future reference:
Clovis I, First king of the Franks*

Clevis:

/nitpick

*Hat tip to Dan Carlin's Hardcore History Podcast

 

[Ignacio]

But I am very glad forum members have great vision and know so much of the minutia that relates to all things FJR. It was Iggy that was in denial and had to have 2 fixed. He is the stubborn one, I am just the clueless one. LOL

For the record I never said (or hinted) you were in denial. I tried to say I was...and think the preposition got messed up.

Also, I still haven't quite fixed the 2nd one and put an Ohlins on my '05 instead. Their clevis and bolt don't appear as persnickety as the Penske.

In fact, I have the broken 2nd Penske clevis sitting in the top tray of a toolbox and vainly hoped a year ago I'd be able to weld it after I took a TIG class at my community college, but never came close to having the skill to hopefully fix it. I may give George's idea a try and call Penske direct for a cheaper source.

I don't have a picture of the magic shouldered bolt, but it's also sitting with the broken clevis and different than the stock non-shouldered one. It's obvious when you really look at the clevis and see the two different diameter holes.

 

[Fred W]

I'm willing to bet that that is how most of the clevises get broken, from buying a 2nd hand shock and not getting the correct mounting bolt with it from the PO. When I bought my Penske (also 2nd hand) the PO had the good sense to send me the correct bolt mounted in the end of the shock, and I noticed the difference when I took the old shock out.

Also, FWIW, Mt Bill's did not break right away either. It took years of abuse before it finally gave up the ghost after riding a few rough New England roads at high speed. I think there may be some pictures in his thread / posts about it back then. I'll try and find them.

 

[Cav47]

Just got off the phone with Penske. Part is on it the way. Most likely going to be a warranty item according to them. Should be here in 2 days

As for the Bolt, they do not sell them or include them with the clevis, according to who I talked to. They are going research that and find the info for me.

I have to send them the broken parts back as soon as I get the new one.

Very professional and helpful. I still will get the pictures posted up on the bolt. Maybe that will save someone the same mistake I may have made.

 

[Fred W]

Hmmm... that's strange.

I just looked at the Penske Parts breakdown and there a whole bunch of different clevises available with different dimensions and hole diameters, I suppose to fit the same base shock to different bikes. Maybe some of the wrong clevises show up on shocks and require a different diameter shoulder bolt? If that is the case then maybe the re-sellers are adding the required bolt when they sell you the shock for a particular application?

 

[Ignacio]

I just looked at the Penske Parts breakdown and there a whole bunch of different clevises available with different dimensions and hole diameters, I suppose to fit the same base shock to different bikes. Maybe some of the wrong clevises show up on shocks and require a different diameter shoulder bolt?

Possible. That sounds of familiar the first time I went through this via GP Suspension.

It's also possible it's not a special shoulder bolt, but a bushing on a standard bolt. I confess haven't actually laid eyes on it since 2014 when I retired the '05 for an ES....I just know 100% for sure the holes are different diameter on the two clevises I've screwed up...so far.

 

[Mr Bill]

FredW said,
Also, FWIW, Mt Bill's did not break right away either. It took years of abuse before it finally gave up the ghost after riding a few rough New England roads at high speed. I think there may be some pictures in his thread / posts about it back then. I'll try and find them.

I had used a wilbur shock bolt on the penske and that was bad. A bad road in VT launched my bike and I think the clevis gave up on landing.

You should use the stock bolt on the penske and make sure the shoulder on the bolt goes into the wide hole on the clevis.

 

[Ignacio]

I had used a wilbur shock bolt on the penske and that was bad. A bad road in VT launched my bike and I think the clevis gave up on landing.
You should use the stock bolt on the penske and make sure the shoulder on the bolt goes into the wide hole on the clevis.

There it is! I think that's what I did myself. In the progression I was stock, upgraded to an early Wilbers, used the same Wilbers bolt not knowing when I upgraded to a Penske...twice, and then an Ohlins. Left the Penske, clevis, and proper bolt on a tray in case I ever returned to the scene of my own crime.

Turns out it was mostly my relay arm, but that's off topic and documented elsewhere....

 

[Mr Bill]

There it is! I think that's what I did myself. In the progression I was stock, upgraded to an early Wilbers, used the same Wilbers bolt not knowing when I upgraded to a Penske...twice, and then an Ohlins. Left the Penske, clevis, and proper bolt on a tray in case I ever returned to the scene of my own crime.
Turns out it was mostly my relay arm, but that's off topic and documented elsewhere....

I'm not the only not a mechanic here.

I found my old pic here

 

[hppants]

So if I understand correctly, the shoulder of the bolt fits in the big hole, but not the small hole - only the bolt threads go through the smaller hole. I'm also presuming that the shoulder of the bolt is long enough such that it goes inside the rubber bushing and acts as a ridged metal spacer to keep you from squeezing the clevis ends together.

If that were true, how could Josh get that wrong? Unless of course, he unknowingly used the wrong bolt.

Josh - get the torque spec for this bolt. Borrow a torque wrench from any auto parts house worth their salt - should be free.

Is that a nylon lock nut for this bolt? If not, does Penske instruct lock tight or not?

I'm so glad you caught this before riding more. I fear what could have happened.

Should be plenty of time to repair before SFO - excellento!!!

 

[Fred W]

I apologize profusely. I had this bass ackwards. You do have to use the right bolt, but apparently the right bolt IS the stock shoulder bolt.

To answer the question posed above, when you tighten the shoulder bolt, the shoulder is supposed to be a slip fit inside the larger hole of the clevis. The shoulder would butt up against the spacer that forms the inner race of the bearing, which presses against the other (smaller hole) side of the clevis, and the nut is on the outside of that hole.

I don't think that the shoulder bolt would be long enough to put it in backwards, which would result in the same bad lateral pressure on the clevis if you somehow managed to do that.

 

[TomInPA]

Well shit! I figured this would be easy to answer by pulling the bolt out of my shock and seeing what's there. I rebuilt my shock with GP this year and reinstalled it in Spring. My clevis is also broken. The bolt has two shoulders and a spacer to prevent over-torque. The bolt only fits one-way with the wide end through the right side of my shock, through the spacer-collet, out the smaller diameter clevis hole washer and bolt. I cleaned off the grease and here is the broken assembly.

For those wondering about the OEM arrangement, the same bolt fits the OEM shock, but without the collet spacer.

So it is this spacer that comes with the shock and is supposed to prevent the end from breaking. Also, if you haven't pulled the bolt, you won't know if yours is whole or not.

 

[Fred W]

Tom,

Isn't that spacer the inner race for the bearing?

Also, yours broke differently. You busted off the side with the smaller hole.

Maybe Dave was right and this is just a crappy part?

 

[TomInPA]

Yes Fred. The spacer is the bearing race. It would not fit between the OEM clevis when I first tried, so it would take some persuasion. Just a tight fit. It appears the shock should work with OEM attachment hardware.

BTW, my bike is still ridable (seems to be). Since I broke the other side, there is still a strong attachment between the relay arm and shock. I didn't know until I pulled it apart.