Putting the swing arm back on? Seals keep falling off

[DenverKdxRider]

I made the mistake of taking off the swing arm off to put in some new bearings but I cannot get the darn thing back on! There are 4 end caps that go on each side of the "I's" that go into the frame but whenever I try to put them on, one, two or all of them seem to fall out. I've spent all weekend trying to put it back on but the darn seals keep falling off. For whatever reason the seals just don't sit flush inside the swing arm and stick out quite a bit. I used an All balls bearing kit but am using the OEM seals. The bushing inside looks exactly the same and even when I use the original worn out one it still doesn't fit. The rare times I have gotten the seals not to fall out it won't budge into place. The only thing I can think of are the following 1) A tiny bit of glue 2) Freezing them? 3) Put a tiny jack to split the frame just a tiny bit (Will that damage it)?

Any ideas?? I'm about to loose it!

[kdxsully]

Smoosh some grease on there so they’ll stick.

[DenverKdxRider]

The definitely helped but the darn thing WILL not get into place!! It's impossibleI am banging the hell out of the swing arm and it still will not go down!!! The only thing I can of think of is to try and take off the engine mounts so I can angle it a bit or use a jack to split the case a tad. Any other ideas?!

[JimmyB]

Just wondering do you have the bearings pressed in the correct amount? The outer double lipped seal will sit inside the swingarm, you should not be able to see any part of it from the outside once it is installed on the bushing. I cant remember if the manual has a depth, take the bushing out and put the seals on the end of the bushing it should slide in between the engine case and the frame on both sides, if it does you might have to press the bearings in a little more, you could try this with the swingarm also, remove the bushing install the seals and see if it will fit.. it usually just slides in, might drop a seal once in awhile but just reinstall and in she goes, you should not have to bang it in..

[SS109]

It sounds like you didn't get the bearings installed deep enough.

[bufftester]

the bearings are to be installed so that they sit 6mm below the outer edge of the swingarm, this allows the seals to fit inside the swingarm so they don't get hung up trying to install the swingarm. If yours are not 6mm deep then drive them further in. The service manual is very clear and plain about it if you don't have one. Same with the rocker arm pivot bearings, the sit below the surface 5mm to allow for seal installation.

[DenverKdxRider]

Welp..I just ground down one of the sleeves a tad and that did it. Thanks for the help!