Pulling off the forks on my '08 Ultra to install Progressive monotubes. All going to plan until I try to remove the left fork. Loosened cap, wd40 on slider to lube the rubber bumper, loosened pinch bolt AND NOTHING HAPPENED. Fork is still tight in place. I see quite a bit of rusting around clamp and fork. Right side had no rust and came right off.

I blasted the joint with Liquid Wrench, tried a little persuasion on the cap nut and pinch bolt to no avail. Waiting for the Liquid Wrench to loosen things. Trying to keep LW off the fork seal in case it dissolves it.

Anyone have a fix or similar experience?

 

Not uncommon of a problem. The last one I did I used PB Blaster and sprayed it down well - let it sit for a while then used a strap wrench to turn the tube and it broke free

 

Remove the pinch bolt and drive a screw-driver or similar into the slot in the tree, to open it up a little. I recently did that with my forks and will do the same when refitting them soon.

 

Same thing with mine pb blaster the crap out of it but mine was def stuck on top. I threaded the top cap out a couple of threads then used a 2x4 as a "punch" and used a hammer to drive it out. I used sandpaper to clean it up before I reinstalled the fork tube. I had my kid hold the handlebars from swinging around while driving the tube out.

 

Did a combination of all that mfortkamp and grbrown did and still took awhile. Don't get discouraged it will start moving eventually and oh yeah, the other one dropped rite out with a lite push. Good luck, ndfrspd

 

Thanks for the techniques and encouragement. I am still working on it, letting the LW do it's thing. I'll hit it again tomorrow, the temperature is suppose to be about 30 degrees warmer too.

 

the screw driver in the slot helps alot just be careful not to drive it in so far you crack the clamp

 

Not meaning to hijack this thread, but I am going to do the same to my '12 Ultra soon. If either of my fork tubes get stuck I will now know what to do. I have reviewed a lot of conflicting information with respect to how much of my batwing fairing I need to remove to get the fork tubes out and back in. Anyone with experience here would be much appreciated.

 

Got the stuck fork loose this afternoon, like the recommendations above said, it took some penetrant, a little beating and prying, a strap wrench and patience. Under a 24 hr project and no damage done. I had rust on both top & bottom clamps. I will polish any residual rust off the clamps and maybe put a little anti-seize on when I reassemble.

As far as what has to come off, here is my list:
Front calipers, wheel and fender,
Batwing windshield, outer fairing and auxiliary lights
ignition switch/fork lock and fairing cap
then you have the access you need to the forks.

couple very helpful links:
for fork disassembly -
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/softa...k-sliders.html
for ignition switch removal:
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...h-removal.html and
Credits to NailZ and CLL375 from this site.

Thanks again for the help

 

Glad to hear you got it out. That was the biggest pain in the *** of my whole chrome lower swap.