How screwed am I ?????

I was changing my rear axle bearings and i noticed my swingarm is cracked down where the carrier is(crack is about 3in long) and my carrier is also cracked(also large crack). What should i do? I know I need to get a new carrier, but can i weld the swingarm.
-Dan-

[400exBro]

if you ride/race mx a welded swing arm my not hold for a long period of time....

about the carrier, get a new one and get a tapered bearing it will cost a lot but well worth the money,

Godd luck
Bro

[kicken250x]

yes i would go get both of them new because if you weld the axle then it will be weak but it is worth a shot... DONT GET DURACRAP!!!!!!!! IF YOU DO I WILL PERSONALY COME OVER THERE AND KICK YOUR @$$!!! lol j/k but seriously though dont get a durablue

[Sick0]

Cast aluminum is hard to weld good. If you weld it you only are going to stress the metal more. It will just crack in the same. But It will take a lot less force to brake it the second. You are better of just buying a new one. If you can have welded cheaply then give it a try until you have saved a enough money to by a good swing are. But if you weld it don't expect to last to long.

I feel your pain, but you might as well get both. You could have the swingarm welded by someone who really knows what they are doing, but it probably won't last if you ride hard and jump very much. If you just do casual trail riding and stay away from the jumps, you might be able to make it last a little while, but it might snap completely in two the next time and result in even more damage. Personally, I'd just park the quad, grit my teeth, and empty my wallet (and half the bank account for what most aftermarket swingarms sell for:(). You could save quite a bit of money by buying OEM parts used, but if you broke one, it's likely that you'd just break another. If you want another stocker though, if my memory serves me correctly, you might want to go over to ********.com and look in their forums under "parts for sale". Johnny Gallagher had some 400 parts on there for sale, and I believe he had a stock swingarm too.

[Tommy 17]

i would just look for a stock swing arm thats used for sale on ebay or somthing... i see them every now and then for less then a 100$... i wouldn't trust a welded stock one though...


j.w are u from slippery rock in pa? that college is crazy

[kicken250x]

oh man im sorry i miss read your post !!!!!lol i thought you said that your AXLE was screwed up my bad

[onelow]

right now im in the process of taking out my axle to replace my bearings but i need big wrenches to get the lock nuts off for the axle. does anyone know the size of the nuts so i dont have to buy wrenches i will only use once thank

[toby400ex]

dont weld it buy a new one or you will have to think about your swingarm every time you jump

[yamaha1470]

what and where is the bearing carrier?

[jwisniew]

i just got done putting my quad back together after goin through that whole process. I bought a new carrier from servicehonda.com along wit some other parts like Orings and a chain guide. My swingarm was also cracked and i just took it in to a professional welder and got it welded up. The welds are stronger than the metal

Originally posted by onelow
right now im in the process of taking out my axle to replace my bearings but i need big wrenches to get the lock nuts off for the axle. does anyone know the size of the nuts so i dont have to buy wrenches i will only use once thank

You didn't say what model your quad is, but I'm just going to assume that it is either a 300EX or a 400EX. In that case, the inner lock nut (the large diameter, thin one) is a 56mm. The outer lock nut (small diameter, wide one) is a 45mm. However, what I do is use either a very large adjustable wrench or a large pipe wrench. If you use the pipe wrench, to avoid scarring and gouging the lock nut with teeth marks, put a piece of leather between the jaws and lock nut. If the lock nuts have never been off before, they will probably be quite tight and the threads will have a bunch of thread locker in them. Just be sure and look at the threads and make sure you are turning the lock nuts the right way.

What I recommend doing to make maintenance easier in the future and to be sure the axle nut won't come loose, is to spend about $50 dollars and get a Rad-Loc or Speed Racing Sure-Loc axle nut to replace the stock lock nuts.

[jwisniew]

do they have to be tightened all the way? and what purpose do they have?