Beware the T Rex Frame sliders (Buyer Beware)

[Gixerhp]

Sucks that it happened, but you cant hold T Rex responsible for a bolt. They offer a good product, and a great price, Yes he provided the bolt, but he did not make the bolt.

When i did my girlfriends bike, all the of the 6mm bolts that came out of the motor came out hard, caused by the locktight used by the factory.

 

[Rawknrohl]

That sucks, I feel for you. I have a couple suggestions: First, go buy a tap kit for the correct size thread and drill it out and tap it, have some smaller bits to drill a hole down the center of the bolt first to make sure you go straight. You can also start with a small bit and keep going bigger and bigger until you have removed as much metal as possible without touching the threads with the bit and pry out the rest with a small pointed punch. Take your time, have patience. My family runs a stove shop (wood, gas and pellet stoves) so I have spent a lot of time removing broken bolts that have been through a lot more abuse than yours, patience is the key. My other suggestion... Especially when it comes to my bike I almost never use the stock hardware that comes with aftermarket parts, even some of the best parts come with shit hardware. When you get the part, go down to the hardware or auto parts store and buy some high quality stainless steel hardware to replace what came with it. I don't know about you but shitty chinese zinc bolts don't make the cut for my machines. A tap and die set can also be really useful before you ever break a bolt: anytime a bolt comes out hard whether from locktite or cross threading or corrosion, run a tap through the threads and re-locktite it rather than counting on the bits of locktite left in the threads to do the job, this also makes sure that when you set it with your torque wrench that you're actually reading the tension between the threads instead of binding due to crud/old locktite/whatever (which can result in incorrect torque and the bolt coming loose or breaking while tightening). Good luck buddy, hope you can get it fixed and out on the road ASAP!

 

[Deathdiesel]

Say guys..What could possibly happen if you did move the engine just a tiny bit? Off topic I know but jw. Also Im happy for the most part with my T rex sliders.

 

[bmw675]

Say guys..What could possibly happen if you did move the engine just a tiny bit? Off topic I know but jw. Also Im happy for the most part with my T rex sliders.

Sprockets wouldn't be running true to each other, and that would cause a chain reaction.

But you would have to be abusive to get it to move when doing one bolt at a time. If it moves, as another poster is claiming, either the bolt or frame would be flexing. You'd probably have a better chance of moving it if you put weight under it with a jack.

In fact, I'm not positive on how tightly the bolts fit in the holes, but I'm guessing there isn't any slop. So if the bolt goes in, it should be aligned as good as it is gonna be. Don't over think this..... (Not pointing you out directly).

 

[Bert-Aus]

When I installed my T-Rex about 3 weeks ago,

It looked like there was close to 3mm play within the holes that the engine mount bolts passed through!?!

IDK either way like previous posts, it always safer to support the engine and work one bolt at a time

 

[DaIrishman]

Update

Had to take it to the shop after looking at the mounting position of the bolt and where it broke. It's broken off just inside the first thread.

After having a machinist toolmaker friend of mine take a look at it he thinks they might be able to get it out but hes worried about the lack of material around the hole and a possible split or crack when working it out. That said the dealership thinks they can get at it so the ball is in their court atm.

Taking the bolt to the QA engineer at work this week to show it to them to get an idea what made it fail. (Pays to work in an aerospace shop)

 

[DaIrishman]

Well when its all said and done ($179.00 later) which is a freaking bargain in my opinion, the dealership got the bolt out without any fuss. The mechanic said he thinks the bolt bottomed out and had a flaw which caused the break.

I now have been been named Hercules, the Hulk, strong-arm, etc by the dealership, sigh, they live to abuse me.

But hey i'm out and about putting some miles on the bike again so it all ends well.

Thanks to all for ideas and thoughts on the matter.

 

[cavcuz05]

I ran into this on another project awile back and what i did it take a nut that is smaller than the bolt that use a little of jb weld...then socket it out...not sure if this will work for you as i cant see you situation.

 

[DragonBlu]

Well when its all said and done ($179.00 later) which is a freaking bargain in my opinion, the dealership got the bolt out without any fuss. The mechanic said he thinks the bolt bottomed out and had a flaw which caused the break.

I now have been been named Hercules, the Hulk, strong-arm, etc by the dealership, sigh, they live to abuse me.

But hey i'm out and about putting some miles on the bike again so it all ends well.

Thanks to all for ideas and thoughts on the matter.

An old mechanic here. Take note of this guys. When I installed my T-Rex I checked bolt length because holes with a bottom in an aluminum case are a good place to have a problem. I always check bolt length to make sure it doesn't bottom out. One of my T-Rex bolts was too long and I used a shorter one. They were not the best quality bolts either. Glad you were able to get back on the road without too much expense.

 

[Cerebus]

An old mechanic here. Take note of this guys. When I installed my T-Rex I checked bolt length because holes with a bottom in an aluminum case are a good place to have a problem. I always check bolt length to make sure it doesn't bottom out. One of my T-Rex bolts was too long and I used a shorter one. They were not the best quality bolts either. Glad you were able to get back on the road without too much expense.

Ditto on my install. I reused the front stock bolt on the right side of the bike.