You were not a complete idiot. Cutting the collar with spring tension could result in injury.

Only mentioning this in case it happens to some one else. No diss intended. Their are several home brew ways to compress the spring in order remove collar. Compress the spring first, then remove bottom collar which will slide off, then remove spring, then deal with top collar. Doing this, care should be taken not to scratch the spring protective cover or the spring can start to rust.

Adjusting the collars on Ohlins certainly leaves a lot to be desired in terms of the "feel" of the collar against the shock body when adjusting. The aluminum just seems to "bite" too much when adjusting compared to other shocks I had. And this is with perfectly clean threads. When adjusting them, I prefer the wrench tool which wraps around the collar.


Definitely call Ohlins. They will either help you directly or suggest an Ohlins certified service shops.

 

Read about this problem in another thread before I got my 3-3s. So, first thing I did when I got mine was slowly run the adjuster in well past what I will ever need and back out, just to make sure it's was all clear and good.
I work with stainless every day, so if it doesn't go smoothly, I stop and check it out and aluminium is the same just softer.

 

This was my first mistake. The shock collar started to squeal a while ago and get tight. Should have lubed it before problems got worse, such as me ruining the shock like I did

 

My main concern, will ohlins be able to disassemble the shock and chase new threads on the shock body itself? Or will the entire shock body need replaced, which might as well replace the entire shock if going this route. Even though I have had them less than a year, probably wouldn't be covered under any type of warranty since I decided to try and force the collar with channel locks. Wonder what they would charge for a totally new shock , probably $4-500, ouch!

 

Been there, done that....just not with a shock. Good luck and hopefully it won't hurt the wallet too much.

 

I told you I need to service my own customers. I work all days of the week and have no time to do anything else. I was being political correct and I did not communicate what I was thinking however (my mistake).
I will make the first thing I do is to talk with Gary at OhlinsUSA who will be the person to approve a complementary free body change because you trashed your own shocks through customer abuse. Give me until 9am tomorrow to make the call.

Let me explain:

Everyone who purchases a shock from me gets instructions on how not to do this before the shocks are paid for and shipped. Getting a customer to read them is another story. I also request/suggest for any of my customers to call me prior to shock installation regardless of the day but within reasonable hours (8am~10pm EST/7 days a week).

What you did do: You did not keep your threads clean and you did not remove, by flushing out the dirt, on the threads of the shocks and in between the spring pre-load collar. Common sense.

When you try and turn a nut over a dirty shock or for that matter any nut/bolt it will jam. In the case of an aluminum thready body & a nut, the hard dirt will cause the aluminum threads to deform and gouge than stop the nut from turning. The next thing that happens is under more applied torque, the threads get torn out and further jams the nut.

This is not the fault of the shock and is purely customer abuse of a product, but people do not want to hear the truth, in these cases "The customer is always right" should be the path chosen. News: If you introduce dirt in between threads you are going to have problems.

When I get my customers who do not force the nut I remove the spring with a spring compressor than take a milling machine and cut the spring collar off, inspect the threads and if they are

• Undamaged:Replace the spring pre-load collar,
• Damaged: take the offending shock apart and replace the shock body, than reassemble.

This is what it looks like.

 

This has always been my concern with any exposed threaded adjuster. This isn't the first time I've head of this. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't. I think riding conditions make a big difference in how dirty the threads get and how often they need to be cleaned.

I'm a mechanic so I know that if any bolt gets tighter as it's coming out then there's something on the threads. I. Try to flush out whatever it is with some penetrant. I only force it once I've exhausted all other possibilities and with the understanding that I'm going to be repairing or replacing it when I'm done because I'm tearing the threads out of it.

My shocks are on there way from Howard. I will definitely be rereading the instructions (already read them once) once I have the shocks in hand and ready to go on. Seeing this will make me extra careful about keeping them clean and not forcing the adjustment.

Being that it's aluminum, I'll have to be even more careful that the salt is all off the roads before my first ride of the season. Aluminum + salt = one big corroded mess

 

Reading this literally made my sphincter spasm.

Hopefully you have realized your mistake and treat the contact Howard provided (as well as Howard) with extra kindness and diplomacy (I would remove the words "beyond pissed" from any discussion with him). Hopefully this gets resolved quickly and as painlessly as possible. Mistakes happen. Some are more painful than others.

 

As an FYI , on my bike, I scrub the threads of the shocks with a nylon brush, and lots of soap every time I wash the bike, and rinse heavily.

 

I always try to keep the ohlins clean and wipe down the threaded body periodically. Guess my new process will involve scrubbing the threads with a brush. Never thought a piece of dirt or debris could get lodged in the threads and cause the collar to lock up though