7MM X 1.00 Tap

[Boomhauer]

Okay folks anybody here know where to get a Tap this size. I pulled my forks and rear shock and sent them to Les over at LT Racing. While loosening the tripple tree bolts I noticed that they were a bitch to break loose. Once I got the bolts out, which was not an easy chore, I noticed the aluminum had welded itself to my bolts.

When I talked to Les he told me to run a tap thru all of the bolt holes and clean them up. Problem is that I can't seem to fin that size tap. I ordered all new bolts from GoFasters and an electrician at work told me to use di electric grease when I put them back in. Seems the electricians run into the same problems we do with some of the different conduits they use.

Help a Gaser Brotha out!

Boom

 

[JTT]

I drilled mine out to 8mm and retapped. Now I have an infinite selection of bolts and easy thread cleanup to boot. Originally did it to mount my handguards to the top clamp, but found the other advantages as a bonus.

 

[MattR]

I agree with JTT. I would use M8 bolts instead of M7 since they are commonly found. Since there is enough material for M8, this would be the best route to go.

The only time I used a M7 bolt was to hold the front of my gas tank when the frame insert got stripped. There wasn't enough wall thickness left on the insert for a M8, so a M7 was my only option.

I bought a set of metric thread taps from Lowe's. The kit had M6, M7, M8, and M10 (including some smaller ones).

 

[Dave]

Mcmaster.com has the M7 tap.

The only problem with changing to M8X1.25 bolts is knowing how much to torque them to get the desired clamping force. Too much clamping force can damage the fork internals and too little will allow the forks to twist in the clamps.

 

[eff]

Electricians use a product called "no-al-ox" to prevent oxidation of aluminum cables such as you service entrance cable. http://www.idealindustries.com/wi/Accessories.nsf

I used anti-seize on mine and I just took them out yesterday. I had a hard time but noticed a trick to removing them. Do not loosen any one bolt too much at a time. If I had a hard time loosing one bolt I retightened the previous bolt and the other one was allowed to come free. The bolts were in very good shape and showed no signs of "welding" to the 3x clamp.

 

[MattR]

Another idea may be to use a helicoil to repair the strip threads. This would allow you to get a helicoil with M6 internal threads and maintain current torque settings. Dave brought up a good point and M8 bolts would be easy to overtorque and cause a fork binder.

Another option is the "timesert" that Gasgasman discussed in one of my posts.
http://www.gasgasrider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=123

 

[skid jackson]

thansk for the heads up eff. I used anti sieze on mine also.

 

[Boomhauer]

Thanks for the help guys! I ordered the Tap yesterday.

 

[GMP]

Get the tap from Mcmaster and clean them up. Liberal use of anti-seize. If you take the forks off a couple times a year for service you will never have a problem. The trick to avoiding problems like this is go through the entire bike before you even ride it the first time. Anti-seize all steel bolt/aluminum threads. Loctite sprocket and rotor bolts. Linkage, swingarm with moly paste, steering head with marine grease. You should never have to replace bearings if this is done when new and at least seasonally, providing you don't use a pressure washer. Re-torque EVERYTHING. You wouldn't beleive how many fasteners are incorrectly tightened from the factory.

A few nights in the garage well spent.

 

[Boomhauer]

Get the tap from Mcmaster and clean them up. Liberal use of anti-seize. If you take the forks off a couple times a year for service you will never have a problem. The trick to avoiding problems like this is go through the entire bike before you even ride it the first time. Anti-seize all steel bolt/aluminum threads. Loctite sprocket and rotor bolts. Linkage, swingarm with moly paste, steering head with marine grease. You should never have to replace bearings if this is done when new and at least seasonally, providing you don't use a pressure washer. Re-torque EVERYTHING. You wouldn't beleive how many fasteners are incorrectly tightened from the factory.

A few nights in the garage well spent.

Good points Glen!

Since my bike is down for the next few weeks I decided to tear alot of stuff apart and clean, regrease, anti seize, tap & die all bolts and bolt holes, and just general stuff for the up coming racing season. Stuff like these items listed above can leave you on the side of the trail and cost you alot of $$$$$$ or can help you with a worry free season.