I was wondering if the swingarm from an 88 250r which is longer could somehow be modified to fit my 86 lt230 .I know the 250 had a full floating swingarm with a secondary pivot point im plannning on trying to tig weld gussets on the swingarm to accept a shock from a "06 450r. I guess my question is has any one attempted this ,and is the aluminum swinger worth fooling with.

 

I would reccomemend trying to use a no link shock setup (its primitive, but hey the new $11,000 ktm uses it) with the 250r arm. you could fit a huge shock in there, since the mount is down pretty low, and its in ABOUT the right spot, but I'd try drilling a hole a little farther back for the shock to bolt to.

as far as the rest goes, an 85-86 style 250r arm will accept the 230 carrier and all that, the only thing to worry about is the bearings. but worst case, I'm sure you could cut them down, or fab up spacers wherever necceseary. the bolt should be the same diameter.

 

thanks for the input ,ive noticed that the 230 setups older and newer are solid where the swingarm bolt passes through but the 250 have a large gap even with spacers my only concern would be if the swingarm will walk ,like bad wheelbearings i ride at tower city and a lot of rough trails but im tired of being beat up. hence my suspension questions.

 

hmmm... i dont quite understand your question...

both units have the swingarm bolt go thru the rear of the engine... so as long as you can make proper spacers, it shouldnt go anywhere.

 

sorry i know i can even confuse myself. looked at the swingarm for the 250 and noticed a brace where the gap was at the swingarm bolt so using a spacer would work. i thought it would be weak across that section thats all. shock mounting will be my next qestion. and the angle of the shock ,is there a certain degree that it should be positioned

 

the angle shouldnt be too specific, most important would be the spring rate on the shock.

just about everything on a 250r swingarm is super beefy, so i wouldnt really worry about breaking it.

 

is there a cetain spring rate i should shoot for or a make and model quad you would rec the mount is about 3 in farther away ,thats why i was looking at the lt450 rear shock based on its length. It should work but i never thoght about spring rate any ideas welcome?

 

spring rate's a tough question.

whats the distance from the swingarm bolt to the lower shock mount on both arms, and about how much longer is 250r swinger in total compared to the 230's?

 

oh crap! i just now understood your question!!!

i totally forgot that the the 230's arm doesnt bolt thru the engine at the front like the 250r's! (and i really should know that cuz i have both bikes haha!)

but, thats ok. with proper spacers, it shouldnt be a problem. just make sure that the little oil seals inside the front bearing bores of the arm seal well, or else youll be doing swingarm bearings ALOT lol!

 

i will have to do some measuring and get back to you ,the 250r swinger is at my buddys shop being tig welded i found 1 small hairline. ,if it doesnt work i know i can sell it for alot more than what i payed for it.