Moose swingarm bearing kit - not so good...

[stay_upright]

I bought this kit from the US as one of the main swingarm pivot bearings had gone (the right side) and one bearing was gone and the sleeve was damaged that the bearings run on, on the large pivot connected to the swingarm that the pull rods attach to.

So I need parts for the swingarm bearings basically so I got a Moose swingarm beariong kit - $65 thanks.

The kit contains 4 bearings, 4 sleeves and 4 tophat sleeves... so basically only parts for the main swingarm pivot (right and left sides) and no parts for the other bearing attached to the swingarm so I find the labeling 'swingarm bearing kit' a bit misleading.

Now I'm in a rush to try and get parts for next weekend when I want to race.

Also the quality of the bearings seems quite inferior to the Gas Gas oe parts in that they have a cage so contain 50% less bearings than the oe parts and also the metal case is a lot lighter and thinner and at one end (on each bearing) not flat - this leads me to worry that when I press/hammer the bearings in some damage may occur??

Oh yeah - why on earth give me 4 tophat sleeves? 2 for spares? I would have preferred parts for the other swingarm bearing thanks...

[Loosenut]

The bearings and parts you need would be considered part of the linkage bearing set even though they are mounted in the swingarm.

Mike

[Brian VT]

I think the tophats are 2 different sizes for different model years ?

[PEB]

The tophats are for different years. I have tried several times to trade someone the ones I have left over for theirs, no luck thus far. I think the bearings with fewer rollers is good, they hold more grease. I use some threaded rod and sockets as a press, so a hammer is not needed or desiarable for that matter.

Paul B

[stay_upright]

The suspension is rebuilt. The only thing that is not 100% is the sleeve for the bearing on the swingarm that connects to the pull rods (dog bones) which has some light surface pitting on one side where the previous bearing had dried out and worn the rollers flat.

When installing the bearings i did notice the moose bearings seemed looser than the OE ones still in the bike (the ones that wenr't damaged that is) maybe that was my imagination?

With it rebuilt there is now a small but definate and noticeable amount of play up and down. I would guess about 1-2mm though the grease means there is some resistance in the 'loose' bit so it's a bit harder to tell. The movement seems to come partly from the main swingarm bearings (where one side has a set of moose bearings in) and the swingarm bearing to the pull rods (this has the most play).

I will replace the sleeve when it arrvies and use it as it is - do the stock swingarms have a small amount of play in?
I still dont think these bearings are good. If I hadn't just rebuilt the bearings and I checked for play and found how it is now I would probably strip it down to fix it...

[Brian VT]

I used Moose bearings in my '03 and have no play.
Could you have used the wrong top hat sleeves ?

[stay_upright]

Maybe but one side has the original bearings and tophat and the other has moose bearings and a hardened tophat from Go Fasters.

Most of the play seems to come from the other bearing at the botton of the swingarm connected to the dog bones/pull rods.

Maybe here moose bearings would only work with a moose sleeve? I dont know why they would not make the sizes compatable with GG OE parts though?