Yamaha Will

13 hours ago, betoney said:

 

With the rear wheel removed AND the bolt removed which holds the linkage to the swing arm, the swing arm will swing up as well as down, giving you more than enough access to the shock mounting bolt.  The upper shock mount is the one that has limited access.

I ended up removing the exhaust as I wanted to see how that would go as I plan on replacing the OEM one soon anyways. It made it really simple to get to the lower link hardware which obviously made it incredibly easy after that with the linkage free to rotate. K-Tech is in, now I gotta do the Andreani cartridges.

2 minutes ago, dazzler24 said:

 

That's interesting because I had no problem using a lever to raise the rear wheel enough to get a socket on both sides of that bottom bolt (on my 2015).

I remove the top bolt first of course and then either drop the shock down or lift it over the top (can't remember which now!) which then facilitated the lifting of the rear wheel so that the bottom bolt is clear of the swingarm to get the access required for the sockets.  There is no binding of the shock at the top when doing this but takes a little guidance to ensure it clears everything as you lever.

Here's the proof.

 

That's interesting that my 16' had this issue. I just removed the exhaust and reinstalled the center stand and I could get to the link hardware from the bottom. Once the lower link was disconnected, I could rotate the bottom of the shock upwards enough to disconnect it. K-Tech is installed, and now I just need to do my Andreani cartridges.

10 minutes ago, betoney said:

Tip on shock removal; remove the wheel first (having the wheel out of the way gives you unrestricted access) and then remove the bottom bolt on the dogbone.  While everything is removed is a perfect time to clean and lube the much neglected swingarm bearings, VERY easy process once you are this far disassembled.

I'll try this prior to the removal of the exhaust for sure, thank you!

16' FJ. Has anyone had any trouble getting the lower shock hardware exposed enough above the swingarm to remove the OEM shock? Of note, I'm using the method of disconnect the top, keep rear elevated until you can reach the rear hardware. Or at least trying to. Mine will not come up far enough and its looking like I need to remove the exhaust so I can disconnect the arms. Just surprised that so many others have done it, and mine will not seem to work. Seems like the top of the shock is physically reaching it limit of travel when I lift the rear wheel.

Did anyone have any trouble with getting to the bottom bolt when removing the OEM shock? I went to lift the wheel after disconnecting the shock's upper hardware, and no matter how I manipulate the shock, the top of it always comes into contact and stops before the lower hardware is exposed enough for me to get a socket and extension on there.