[Natedogg]

The linkage on my Free is squeaking... its only a year old and I honestly havent ridden all that much over the past year, and no big drops. I started taking the linkage apart and then decided it might be a good idea to look at the directions. Needless to say, SCs directions scared me off (specialized tools). Any advice?

 

[iridebikes]

welp, your bearings are most likely siesed up. It happens with most vp free's. be carefull when doing it, but you can just pound them out and put new ones in. There's no real special tool needed. you might end up having to replace the pivot bolts and that sort of thing if they're worn too bad. But you'll have to figure that out once you tear into it.

 

[zedro]

just about any bike will squeek after a year; grease dries up, loctite wears off, bolts rattle. It may not even be the bearings, but mearly needs a thorough teardown, cleaning and reassembly with grease and loctite.

 

[Natedogg]

Right on... thanks guys. iridebikes, I kinda figured that they would say there was a specialized tool, but you can use anything.

I had an 01 FSR team DH that I pulled apart all the time to relube pivots and whatnot, but the linkage on the VP Free is a heckuva lot more complicated... Just wanted to make sure I wasnt getting into something I shouldnt be.

 

[davep]

here is a walk through of the bearing replacement procedures. They use some custom tools but with a little thought you could make something up with some bolts and sockets

http://www.santacruzbicycles.com/tech/vpfree_tech.pdf

 

[Grizzle]

I rebuild my free recently, and while the bearings can be a bitch to get in without the right tool, it can be done. If you want to make it easy on yourself, stop by your local meat mart and get about 2 pounds of dry ice brick. Leave the new bearings on it for an hour or so, so they get nice and cold. Now put on some gloves, and they should go into their new bearing holes much easier. just dont touch em with bare fingers.

 

[OGRipper]

The only specialized tool you might need is a bearing removal tool if you need to replace the bearings, otherwise you can tear it down, clean and lube, then rebuild with normal tools. If you ride hard and often you could need new bearings every season, especially if it's sloppy where you ride, but unless there is excessive play or binding the squeak will probably be fixed with a clean and lube job. In a pinch you can just squirt some lube in and around the squeaky area and let it seep in, that will at least get you through a day or so.

As for dry ice...WTF? Use the right tools and you will never need that kind of approach.

 

[wood-dog]

My vp free had some creaking going on for awhile too and I was afraid that it was already time to repalce the bearings after only having the bike 9 months. But I guess I got lucky, all I did was remover the lower swing link plate and cleaned it along with the hardware and the frame/swingarm areas and now I am good to go. Try giving the bike a good cleanning before you start messing with the bearings

 

[ChrisKring]

Chances are it is the lower set of bearings. As stated above, the tools are necessary to put the bearings back in. Trust me, you do not want to jack up your frame if the bearings don't go in straight.

Since bearings were unavaliable when mine started to make a little noise, I removed the bearings and pealed back the dust seals carefully with a knife. I then soaked them in WD40 and spun them by hand to get the crap out, repeat. I then repacked them and re-assemebled. All that said, it would be easier to buy the bearings and the tools.

 

[Natedogg]

Awesome, thanks guys.

Davep - yep, thats the thing that made me think twice about ripping the thing apart...

OG, I think Im with you on the dry-ice. WTF?

Wood-dog and KK--yeah, I think my problem is in the lower swing link.

So I guess what Im hearing is that the thing is not as complicated as I feared to pull apart. I spent a minute or two trying to pop the bolts for some of the linkage and they didnt budge, so thats when I decided to look online for the SC maintenance guide. I guess Ill just need to find a pipe for a little extra leverage.

I highly doubt my bearings are shot--Id be REALLY disappointed with SC if that were the case. My FSR took a beating and I had never replaced the bearings in that pup. Just tore it down, lubed stuff up, and off I went. Hopefully this will be the same.

Thanks again, fellas! Monkeys rock.

 

[TBC]

I rebuild my free recently, and while the bearings can be a bitch to get in without the right tool, it can be done. If you want to make it easy on yourself, stop by your local meat mart and get about 2 pounds of dry ice brick. Leave the new bearings on it for an hour or so, so they get nice and cold. Now put on some gloves, and they should go into their new bearing holes much easier. just dont touch em with bare fingers.

This method is used on the booms and swing bearings of excavatars and many other heavy machinery type bearings but in a much larger size so they usally use liquid nitrogen but i do beileve that dry ice would work pretty good!

Good Idea though i hadnt thought to use dry ice!

 

[Hooj Choons]

If you replace the bearings get new ones from enduro!

 

[ChrisKring]

If you replace the bearings get new ones from enduro!

I am pretty sure that they are the exact same bearings.

 

[Trigger]

The bearings on my vpfree didn't have that much grease in them to start with. So, as many here are pointing out - that's probably it.

But I also had a lot of noise from the bottom link-plate-thingy, where small rocks and sand tends to get cought in between the linkplate and the rear frame.

Also check the area around the rear of the shock...don't remember the amount of grease used in that area as well.

Btw; that amount of time is a long time without going over the bearings for any bike.

Good luck

 

[dhkid]

its defanetly from your shafts, they need to be greased with thick grease. the bearings get dry, but dont really sieze. they get rough. if there is any free play in the rear end then you need new bearings. otherwise the shafts just need grease.

 

[Cooter Brown]

also check your lower shock mount bolt that goes thru the lower linkage, I went thru my whole bearing set, put it back together and it still squeaked. I shot some silicone lube into the shock bolt, and the squeak was gone

 

[Natedogg]

otherwise the shafts just need grease.

I ASSume you mean bolts?

Cooter, when you shot some lube into that lower bolt, do you mean you took it apart, or just shot some in there while the bike was put together?

 

[dhkid]

nope, i mean the shafts. not the bolts. locktite for the bolts. the creaking is from between the shafts/ frame/beaings.
i am pretty sure cooter meant the aerosol type silicon spray. just apply generously when the bike is together. works well as a temporary(sp?) solution. the bottom two shafts dry out much faster and get chewed up after a while.

 

[Natedogg]

nope, i mean the shafts. not the bolts. locktite for the bolts. the creaking is from between the shafts/ frame/beaings.

Ok... so are the 'shafts' the holes of the linkage plates that the bolts go through?

 

[Cooter Brown]

yeah, just a little squirt while the bike was together

heh, you said 'shaft', anyway, when you take the bearings out, there is a shaft tube that the bearings ride on on the I.D., that the bolts that hold everything together screw into, grease the O.D. of these where they go into the bearing, and into the frame and that should help

 

[OGRipper]

Amazing how some of you can diagnose a squeak over the internet.

There is some good advice here, but like a lot of bikes my free occasionally squeaks from any one of about 8 different places. Sometimes it the lower link, sometimes it's the shock mount, sometimes...well you get the idea.