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Broke my 5.5 again -- strike 2

1677 Views 24 Replies 14 Participants Last post by Cowboy-jeff, Jan 10, 2006

Paul B

Discussion Starter · Dec 19, 2005

This time, one of the big bolts that joins the black connector piece between the bottom of the swingarm and the main triangle. No idea what it's called, but it blew up on me as I was torquing out of a red light. On the road. The rear triangle was so far out of alignment afterward that I couldn't even pedal it -- the left crank arm couldn't get past the chainstay. Had a lovely four mile walk back to the house this evening.

This is my second catastrophic failure with my 5.5, and I'll be calling Intense first thing Monday to work it out (which I'm sure they will -- my last customer service experience with them was excellent). Love the bike while it's working. That said, I do not feel any confidence riding this thing. Anyone else out there fighting with a brittle 5.5?

p.

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awai04

· #2 · Dec 19, 2005

Whoa --is that with or without the PUSH mod?

Paul B

Discussion Starter · #3 · Dec 19, 2005

awai04 said:
Whoa --is that with or without the PUSH mod?

Without. Factory spec 5.5.

This is not the piece that connects the shock to the swingarm, it's the piece under the bike that goes between the front of the chainstays to the back of the bottom bracket.

p.

n10'sGuy

· #4 · Dec 19, 2005

Paul, That looks like one of the early "hollow" main pivot bolts, we haven't made those for a couple years, changed to solid ones. Call service those should be replaced free of charge.

Quattro

· #5 · Dec 19, 2005

n10'sGuy said:
Paul, That looks like one of the early "hollow" main pivot bolts, we haven't made those for a couple years, changed to solid ones. Call service those should be replaced free of charge.

What are the changes(if any) between the 05 and 06 5.5s?

dorsett

· #6 · Dec 19, 2005

Paul you say strike 2 are you installing the replacement parts your self? Perhaps you are over torquing the bolts.

Paul B

Discussion Starter · #7 · Dec 19, 2005

dorsett said:
Paul you say strike 2 are you installing the replacement parts your self? Perhaps you are over torquing the bolts.

Strike one was a broken rear swingarm. Different issue.

p.

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dorsett

· #8 · Dec 19, 2005

That Stinks

Paul B said:
Strike one was a broken rear swingarm. Different issue.

p.

Dang what happened? I've taken my 5.5 dwn Vail, Keystone, and Winter Park this summer and it stills rides like new.I know it's hard to tell, but could the swing arm get broke under braking? I know that I broke 3 swing arms at the same location on my RTS I think while under braking.The broken bolt thing could that be caused by over torqueing at reassembly?

mezzanine

· #9 · Dec 19, 2005 (Edited)

bottom bolts

n10'sGuy said:
Paul, That looks like one of the early "hollow" main pivot bolts, we haven't made those for a couple years, changed to solid ones. Call service those should be replaced free of charge.

I have an 04 5.5, one of the early ones (without the easton sticker) and I'm wondering what the deal is with the solid bolts? Stronger is obviously better in this area.

Paul B

Discussion Starter · #10 · Dec 19, 2005

dorsett said:
Dang what happened? I've taken my 5.5 dwn Vail, Keystone, and Winter Park this summer and it stills rides like new.I know it's hard to tell, but could the swing arm get broke under braking? I know that I broke 3 swing arms at the same location on my RTS I think while under braking.The broken bolt thing could that be caused by over torqueing at reassembly?

JRA through a modest rock garden in Flagstaff, AZ. 12 miles of pedaling with the swingarm splinted by a spare tube and a box wrench.

The break took place on the drive side, and it was an extremely clean break, so I suspect it was just a bad weld. This hollow axle thing, though, just sounds like poor parts spec.

Don't know about overtorquing, since the LBS installed the new swingarm. I'll do this round myself using my own torque wrench.

p.

Paul B

Discussion Starter · #11 · Dec 19, 2005

To Intense's credit, they have yet again bent over backward to get me back on my bike. Nick Serrano is sending a couple bolts and a replacement swinglink (used but in good condition -- apparently new swinglinks are US$100! Yowch!) just a couple hours after I called in the issue.

Here's hoping it's stronger this time around!

p.

Paul B

Discussion Starter · #12 · Dec 22, 2005

Last item: The replacement bolts have arrived from Intense! Yay for Intense, I'm totally impressed they were able to get this together and mailed to me in the middle of the Xmas rush. As always, no problems at all with customer service.

The new bolts do look "solid" compared to the broken one, which is obviously hollow. Totally negligible weight difference; here's hoping they're actually stronger. The rearmost bolt in the old swinglink, the one that didn't break, is also "solid." It'll be good to have a spare.

They threw in a spare (used) swinglink as well, which rocks. I had stripped out one of my set screws in the last swinglink so this is one less hassle for me to worry about. I'll probably still drill it out and replace the set screws so I have a spare part for the bike.

According to Nick, the SOP on these VPP frames is to always, always retighten the swinglink bolts before every ride. It's just a characteristic of the bolts and how they interact with the swinglink motion. I'm surprised the set screws don't stop this, but then again it's really hard to get any sort of real strength behind those tiny little screws. He suggested blue locktite on the main bolt threads, which I'm going to do.

p.

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peachy-B

· #13 · Dec 22, 2005

^^^ u didn't ask Nick why they don't add the loctite on the main pivot right at the factory?

n10'sGuy

· #14 · Dec 22, 2005

peachy-B said:
^^^ u didn't ask Nick why they don't add the loctite on the main pivot right at the factory?

We do. Blue loctite works to a degree. The surface of the bolt is hard anodized which inhibts the effectiveness of blue loctite. There are specific thread lock's that work with anodize but bike shops and bike owners don't have it or use it, so we use blue.

IMO you don't necessarily have to check the main pivot bolt torque all the time. I did for the first few rides, then after a while they took a set and never moved again.

Pedal Bike

· #15 · Dec 22, 2005

Hollow Bolt Replacements

I have a 2004 5.5 with Hollow Pivot Bolts.
Do I need to replace them with solid bolts?
Does Intense offer this replacement?
Thanks!

dorsett

· #16 · Dec 22, 2005 (Edited)

Replace them as soon as possible..................

Hecubus

· #17 · Dec 23, 2005

Pedal Bike said:
I have a 2004 5.5 with Hollow Pivot Bolts.
Do I need to replace them with solid bolts?
Does Intense offer this replacement?
Thanks!

I asked about buying them a while back but they are kind of pricey. Its a custom machined bolt. I think they said something like $27 each.

Hecubus

· #18 · Dec 23, 2005

There are industrial loctite variants that are not commercially available which will take care of that problem for good. The only catch is you might want to forget about ever being able to remove them. Not easily at least

yewweng

· #19 · Dec 26, 2005

how do the hollow bolts look like?

Paul B said:
Last item:
The new bolts do look "solid" compared to the broken one, which is obviously hollow. Totally negligible weight difference; here's hoping they're actually stronger. The rearmost bolt in the old swinglink, the one that didn't break, is also "solid." It'll be good to have a spare.

I got a 2004 frame, the non-drive side bolt is hollow for about 3/4 to 1 inch into the bolt. Is that considered the hollow bolt? Or does the 'hole' run through all the way to the other side?

Paul B

Discussion Starter · #20 · Dec 26, 2005

yewweng said:
I got a 2004 frame, the non-drive side bolt is hollow for about 3/4 to 1 inch into the bolt. Is that considered the hollow bolt? Or does the 'hole' run through all the way to the other side?

The hollow bolt that broke was hollow all the way through. The solid bolts I ended up with are solid all the way through AND have a very shallow groove machined in just below the bolt head, into which the set screw tip will engage. It's a very nice looking piece of hardware -- I only wish I had photographed it before installation!

I'm not sure I've ever seen one of the bolts that's only partially hollow. I'm wondering if they've gone through numerous iterations of the bolts before settling on the ones they sent me.

p.

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