help with axil bearings.. please

[house23376]

hi, on my last ride my 400ex axil bearings decided to take a crap on me. i am pretty sure i rode with them broken, im not sure how long we were on a long ride and i was unaware of it happening. any how, i am planning to fix them this up comming week and i was hoping that some of you guys could give me some hints or suggestion of things i can do to make the process easier. any information you can give me would be nice, thanks for everything - Josh-

[bwamos]

Heat up the locknut before trying to remove. ;)

[wilkin250r]

The stock locknut seems to give everybody trouble after they remove it. Once it is taken off, it ALWAYS seems to come loose when it's put back on. I highly suggest getting a pinch-bolt locknut to fix this problem, they're not all that expensive.

[icy1155]

i did the same thing man... i was bout 10 min from my camp but there was no way to get it home other than ridin it... it tore the hell outta my bearing carrier cause the seals blew out and it was gridning my axle against the carrier... if you need a whole new carrier just make sure u get one with a grease zerk (most of them come with one) and pump all the grease in it you can... also make sure u keep all of your parts where you can find them (aka dont do it on the lawn) cause the little o-rings from the chain are damn near impossible to find.

[rooster300ex]

If u don't buy a new lock-nut. Just get some real low strength lock-tite and put in on the treads of both nuts, you don't have to drown it in lock-tite either just get it on the treads real good. Oh yea i suggest a RAD carrier or similiar with double wide bearings. The RAD carriers have grease-jerk

[DAVE14]

after the main nuts are loose (backwards thread)then you release spap ring on axle the nuts are tightened against& the big snap ring agaist the carrier once all thats off take off right hub wheel chain etc. & the 4 pinch bolts on swingarm are loose , axle should be out & carrier can be tapped out ,then i highly recomend a Rad carrier with grease nipple seals etc. just drop it in & put everything back through it stock bearings you cant service & will never last as long as those will Ive been there & done that & the rads have been dunked repeatedly & stood up to years of abuse ,& still good no comparisson to the stock crap.

[Rip_Tear]

Originally posted by wilkin250r
The stock locknut seems to give everybody trouble after they remove it. Once it is taken off, it ALWAYS seems to come loose when it's put back on. I highly suggest getting a pinch-bolt locknut to fix this problem, they're not all that expensive.

I find this very odd, I've taken my rear axle out every year I've had my 400, and I just put a bit of lock tite on it before I tighten the lock nut and so far so good... But who knows.

Be prepared to replace that carrier, could have done some damage in side, even due to heat from the bearing being warn. It's a pretty straight forward job, just take your time.

[Jay300ex]

If your hub isn't damaged damaged then either take a torch and heat the aluminum around the bearing race and it will pop out if you have a hard time getting that out. the inside race shouldnt be stuck on the axle but if it is do the same thing heat it up and hit it off with a punch or a socket extension. putting bearings in are simple, put the bearing in the freezer and the carrier in the oven at 325 for a good 10 minutes then the bearings should pop right in, but have a socket and extension on hand to seat it fully.

Always put the bearings in with the text side facing out. always hit the outside race when seating. when your putting the axle in put the wheel hub nut on the end of the axle so you can hit that with a hammer and not mess up the threads.

If you want the axle nuts to stay, put blue locktite on the threads. just one line going across the threads on the axle is enough. DO NOT use red locktite ! If you get a carrier with a grease fitting then keep it pumped up to prevent this failure again ;)

[house23376]

hey thanks for all your advise, i appreciate it and will take everything into consideration. hopefully it wont be too bad. if there are any more hints out there let me know still, thanks alot _-josh-

[icy1155]

Hey, one thing you might want to consider, when you have the carrier out you might want to drill a small hole in the swing arm at the spot where the grease zerk will line up so that you can re-grease your axle without having to take everything apart. I did this and put a small plastic cap/plug thing i made in it and it works fantatstic. Just a thought.

[bwamos]

Originally posted by icy1155
Hey, one thing you might want to consider, when you have the carrier out you might want to drill a small hole in the swing arm at the spot where the grease zerk will line up so that you can re-grease your axle without having to take everything apart. I did this and put a small plastic cap/plug thing i made in it and it works fantatstic. Just a thought.

Does the 400ex have open bearings? I have no clue.

My 300ex has sealed bearings, so a grease zerk does nothing but add weight.. lol. You just have to replace the things once every year (or two depending on how much you ride).

[DAVE14]

the rad carrier has the grease nipple on the side so theres no need to modify the swingarm to expose the grease nipple & its been in there for years & hopefully more years to come I would never in my right mind bother with stock or unserviceable bearings ever again & do this b. s. every season !

[icy1155]

then when i get my new swingarm i gotta get a rad carrier cause i have a lonestar one now and the damn thing was impossible to get to

[400exrider0004]

Is it necessary to heat up the loc nuts before taking them off, or can this be done with a large pipe wrench. Also does everything need to be torqued down when done, or what?

Thanks, Josh

[DAVE14]

heat would be nice but not too much, that will distort or crush the nut when you try turnin it also get a large adjustable on it you dont wanna round & chew up those nuts last time I did it I used heat but I heated & cooled it several times to kind of shock it free then it spun off pretty easy.

Originally posted by bwamos
Does the 400ex have open bearings? I have no clue.

My 300ex has sealed bearings, so a grease zerk does nothing but add weight.. lol. You just have to replace the things once every year (or two depending on how much you ride).

the 400ex and 300ex use the exact same bearings

[bwamos]

Originally posted by speedyquad
the 400ex and 300ex use the exact same bearings

That's right. Been a long time since I looked at them. ;) Thanks for the clarification. I know my 300 very well, but my knowledge of the other quads internals is very limited.

[Rip_Tear]

Heat is not necessary, I've never used it. I don't torque the lock nuts either, just use loctite and don't over tighten it. I got 2 24" adjustables for the rear axle, I made 2 wrenches for too, but the adjustables work just as well.

[Jay300ex]

Heat the nuts, but don't get them red hot. If you use a monkey wrench then you will get marks on your nuts (lol) but it will get them off no problem. An adjustable wrench works well enough. If there is any corrosion on the threads you might want to give it a shot of PB Blaster. When putting the nuts back on you can just blue locktite.

When installing the nuts also, REMEMBER THEY ARE REVERSE THREAD . Tighten the outer lock nut against the snap ring collar while someone holds the left wheel. The torque for that is about 65 ft.lb. Then you have to tighten the inner nut against the outter nut at about 95 ft.lb. You have to guesstimate on the torques but that's the proper procedure- you'll see what I'm talking about when you do it.

Jay