I have a 400EX and lately the front end has been squeeking. At first I would just spray WD-40 on the a-arm bushings and it would cure it for a little while, but then it would come back in about a week. The WD-40 collects a lot of dust and dirt too. Is there anything I can do to help this out. It's embarrasing to ride it around people. Thanks.

 

put grease fitting in the a-arms. mosts aftermakert a-arms have them and i talked to some guy that put them in his stock ones.

 

Steven,

WD-40 probably wasn't the best thing to use. Any grease that may have been in the area would have been broken down by the WD-40. WD-40 is mostly kerosene with a little bit of lubricant added. Once the kerosene evaporates, you're left with a tiny bit of lubricant. It is for this reason, you would ride for a week then the squeak would start again.

Basically, never use WD-40 unless you are attempting to clean a greasy part, displace water, or stop rust from accumulating on a piece of metal that will be getting wet. It definitely lacks in the lubrication department. I found this out when I thought I was lubricating my rear gear set on my 21-speed mountain bike. All the rear hub does now is grind while I am pedaling.

Hey, hope you get it fixed; let us know what you ended up doing. Thanks and see ya.

 

Hey steven, i had the same problem as you did, and felt embarassed too! However i fixed mine totally..
If your bike is new, then it will not be the a-arms!! The squeeking noise on mine came from the bushings inside the shock mounts.
What to do??:
1. jack up the front end
2. remove the front wheels (easy access)
3. remove both front shocks (you will need 2 wrenches, one to hold the bolt and one to loosen the nut 14mm)
4. pound or tap out the bushing on the top shock mount, and look inside of it, you will notice small diamond shaped holes inside of the bushing housing, clean these out with a paper towel.
5. get some good bearing grease, and put it inside of the busing houseing, then put some more grease inside of the bushing, or on the bolts. do this to both sides.
6. also put some grease on the bottom bolts too. I couldn't get any bushings to come out on the bottom, so i don't thinke that there is one.
7. re-assemble and your problem should be fixed.


If your steering is also squeeking, do this:
1. remove the whole front plastic, and disconnect the electrical connections.
2. use a socket wrench and remove the 2 bolts that hold your steering rod in place (12mm I THINK). (you may have to remove a bolt that holes the front brake line in place first)
3. take out the 2 plates that hold the stem in place, and clean them off.
4. also clean off the green round thingy (hehe). Move the green thing upwards, and clean off any dust from the steering stem.
5. Use alot of good, bearing grease, and grease the steering stem (where the green thingy was) the green thing, and both plates that hold the stem together. reassemble and i garuntee that you have no squeeking left. If you do have any squeeking left than it is your a-arms. when u get this far, and still have squeeking, i will give you instructions on the a arms. LATER

 

forget about all that just go to fleet farm and buy industrial stregth LPS 2. my 250r front end wad real bad and i sprayed some in their and it is super quiet. wd 40 will eat away at your seals after a while so don't spray anymore in there.

 

My Rancher steering is squeaking. I also made the mistake of spraying the pivot point with WD40. It did not help and now I understand that it probably made it worse. Is the procedure for fixing squeaking on the ex the same as for fixing my Rancher?
This is one of the first things that I have found that WD40 will not help. I guess that this applies to anything that is supposed to be greased. Right?

 

c400ex1234 is right. It is not the A-Arms, It is the shocks. I have aftermarket A-Arms and mine still does it. Good tip c400ex1234