Penske install question

Ok guys and gals-

I am in the process of installing my newly rebuilt and resprung, new to me, Penske 8975. It took me all of 30 minutes to uninstall my OEM shock, plus about 20 minutes of staring and studying. (then 15 minutes of wiggling the switch before I finally decided to take the switch apart to finish the uninstall)

I am at an impasse on install though. The collars on the top, that interlock into the top of the shock do not seem to fit between the mounting brackets on the bike. Am I installing these wrong?

I reinstalled the bottom bolt as well as the dog bone bolt, then used my floor jack to lift the swingarm into place, but I keep knocking half of the top collar off as I try to move it into place between the brackets.

What am I doing wrong? (7 days till I leave for Red lodge.. I live close).

A little late night help?

It is a bit 'delicate' getting the the two top collars in place.

Not much help to you but I always do it the other way around - fit the top first which gives a little more wiggle room.

It might help to jam something (like paper) to keep the collars in place.

The top mount is a tight fit. Slide the shock into position and install the top bolt first. Once the top mount is done, you might need to twist the bottom mount to line up with the linkage. I use a long screwdriver under the rear tire to line up the bottom bolt.

--G

Like Escapefirst, I always install the top bolt first. I use a small pneumatic jack under the relay arm to help align the dog-bones. If you have an auxilliary reservoir, that gets threaded to the outside before the shock is installed.

Sounds great - Thanks guys. I only loosely installed the bottom bolts, so I will start the install over when I get home today.

Between all of the tutorials on the forum, and this help above, and my new found experience, I think I could swap out a rear shock in less than hour now.. (what's the FSM rate this hours wise?)

I needed some extra help, as I was having a hard time getting to where I could feed the bolt through in the proper direction. I put the shock up into the collar and fed a screwdriver through from the other side, that was the side I could get to easily. Then I went around and used the bolt to push the screwdriver back out, and the bolt was installed.

Installation on the AE is a bit more fiddly, as you have more stuff getting in the way. I'd stumbled across a post where someone disconnected the bottom of their subframe to lift it out of the way. I used that technique to get the extra room I needed on the right side of the bike from the ABS mounting bracket I think it was.

gixxerjasen said:

.....I put the shock up into the collar and fed a screwdriver through from the other side, that was the side I could get to easily. Then I went around and used the bolt to push the screwdriver back out, and the bolt was installed..

Click to expand...

EXACTLY what I was planning.. I had very little trouble accessing the top bolt (many of the tutorials talked about what a bear it was), once I removed the clip that holds that one ABS brakeline in place and pushed a screwedriver through the other end. (and a long wobble ratchet extension worked wonders.)

I do think re-inserting the bolt will be more challenging than removing it was. But first I have to get the shock and collars placed.. we'll see if my 15 year old son is in a helping mood.

15? You'll have better luck getting the shock in place on your own.

That was the trick, do not install the bottom bolts before the top.

Leave the dog bone for last, and use a floor jack to lift the swing arm into place when replacING the dog bone.

Question about the bottom clevis though, that fit pretty loosely, is the washer supposed to go inside the clevis? I torqued it down to specs, but I feel kind of funny about this havin seen a cracked clevis recently on here (I think)

Washer goes under the nut, not inside the clevis. I've found the Penske clevis slides tightly over the lower relay arm linkage collar/bushing. What you're probably feeling is the collar sliding back & forth in the needle bearings. Completely normal.

--G

It's a two-man job.