Maverick MonoLink Assembly?

(Pete Cresswell) said:

(oops! I just posted this to rec.bicycles.tech by mistake... so this
will effectively be a cross-post)
-----------------------------------------------------------

I'm wondering how to reassemble the link: Dry? (i.e. no grease or anti-seize),
Blue LocTite? Red LocTite?

Can't find anything helpful at www.maverickamerican.com. They give you the
torque, but that's about all. Called the frame's builder, got some
advice...but I don't have anything close to a warm fuzzy feeling about it.

Asked a guy at the LBS that has the same bike and he said he uses LocTite - but
Blue because Red is so permanent. OTOH the thing definately had traces of Red
on it when I did the first disassembly. He also says that he disassembles,
cleans, and reassembles his MonoLink every 20 rides. Sounds high-maintainence
to me....

Brand new, my bike was really tight and perfectly quiet for about the first two
hours of riding and it was downhill from there on.

I torqued the bolts to spec, and it quieted down for awhile - only to get noisy
again after a couple days. Inspection revealed that the bolts were coming
loose again...so I took somebody's advice and used Red LocTite on them.

All was well for about a month...then a very small creak started.

Thunk I, "why keep tearing thing apart? Those cheesey bolts won't take that
much assembly/disassembly..."

So I dripped a little chain lube into that area. Beeeeeg mistake. The
creakfest started immediately. *Major* creaking going on there...I could even
feel it through the handlebars - every stroke, and I didn't even have to get out
of the saddle. People were *staring* as I rode by. Thought the frame had
cracked.

So, now I've taken it apart again; cleaned everything off; and am ready for the
(final?) reassembly.

But it doesn't look to me like it SB totally dry - especially those 4 collar
washers that seem to be a sacrificial interface between the unit and the frame.

Anybody been here before?

Yup, been there (with my Palomino). Not creaking, but I've had stiction
in the bearings. My LBS is adamant about NOT using lube in the
reassembly. I clean the bushings and parts very thoroughly (water and
rubbing-I don't use any other solvent). I reassemble with blue loctite.
You're gonna do this often, so don't use red (The "permanent" kind,
right?). Inspect the bushings to make sure they haven't worn out, plus
check for play in the linkage once its back together and torqued. If
its wiggly, get new bushings.
I'd say your LBS is about right with 20 rides (e.g. 40-50 hours) between
rebuilds. I can do mine in 15 minutes or so now, so that's not too bad.

Shawn

RE/

Quoted message said:

I can do mine in 15 minutes or so now, so that's not too bad.

What's the trick to getting the two ends of the link lined up with the holes in
the frame?

Right now, I'm bumping it with my hand over-and-over until I get lucky.
Eventually I'm going to damage the bolts trying to put them through when it's
not perfectly aligned.

Just for the heck of it, I asked about replacment price on the bolts: Forty
bucks!!!!

Seems like it calls out for a tapered metal rod that you stick in there and then
give a couple taps with a mallet to bring the hole through the bearing in
alignment with the holes in the frame.

Also, one expert I managed to get on the phone today said that Maverick has
switched to something called "Bronzite" for those collar washers/bearing caps
because of creaking problems with alu.
--
PeteCresswell

(Pete Cresswell) said:

RE/

Quoted message said:

I can do mine in 15 minutes or so now, so that's not too bad.

What's the trick to getting the two ends of the link lined up with the holes in
the frame?

Right now, I'm bumping it with my hand over-and-over until I get lucky.
Eventually I'm going to damage the bolts trying to put them through when it's
not perfectly aligned.

Just for the heck of it, I asked about replacment price on the bolts: Forty
bucks!!!!

Seems like it calls out for a tapered metal rod that you stick in there and then
give a couple taps with a mallet to bring the hole through the bearing in
alignment with the holes in the frame.

Also, one expert I managed to get on the phone today said that Maverick has
switched to something called "Bronzite" for those collar washers/bearing caps
because of creaking problems with alu.

Mine must be a lot looser. I can line up the holes easily. I'd try a
wood or plastic rod before I'd risk metal.
I don't know what my bearings are made of, but they look like metalized
plastic/plasticized metal. Is that Bronzite?

Shawn

RE/

Quoted message said:

Mine must be a lot looser. I can line up the holes easily. I'd try a
wood or plastic rod before I'd risk metal.
I don't know what my bearings are made of, but they look like metalized
plastic/plasticized metal. Is that Bronzite?

It's not the bearings, it's those little press-fit collar washers (bushings?) on
each side of the bearing. The guy said Bronzite was definately bronze-colored.
I'm pretty sure mine are alu.

I found a felt-tip marker whose plastic barrel is just the right size for lining
up the holes.

I cleaned everything with 70% iso alchohol so it was absolutely sano. Seated
the bushings in a little ti-prep, and re-assembled with LocTite Blue.

Hopped on, expecting total silence. "CREEEEEEEEEK"....no change.

Turned out that the little 4mm screws down there that join the link to the shock
assembly had started to back out. Torqued them to spec and.... silence.

Like they said in 12th-grade General Science: "Correlation < > Causation".

Live and learn....-)
--
PeteCresswell