carrier bearings

[IRONMIKE113]

hello everyone i was wonder if the if the bearings are easy to replace on an 01' 400ex and if anyone has a pic of how it is done

[sideways]

i just replaced mine and a freinds (both 400ex's)
first, remove the axle carrier from the swingarm and clean it up.
next, the only way to get the old bearing out is to cut (grind) it out. DONT TRY TO PRESS THEM OUT. and be careful grinding that you dont mark the axle carrier wals or the inside center of the carrier
put the new bearings in the freezer for a few hours, and the carrier near a heat source or in the oven. with the new bearing frozen, they shrink, with the carrier heated, it expands. everything drops into place after that. including tear down of the quad and putting it back together should take a couple three hours.
sorry i dont have any pics, but i may start taking some when i work on the bike for others to learn from.

[IRONMIKE113]

thanks because my friends says it hard to do and is there anyway i could put in a grease zerk

[REDRIDDER]

sideways i just told someone the same thing but it really works,a freezer and an oven . lol

[sideways]

redrider - an old man taught me that trick a long time ago. when he first told me i laughed at him, but i watched him do a bearing install on some hubs. when he pulled the hubs out of the oven i almost died laughing. one heck of a meal


ironmike- i purchased an aftermarket axle carrier (lonestar) that came with the grease zerk, but the stock ones never came with one. you cant put one in either. the design of the stock carrier doesnt allow grease to flow from center (where the zerk has to be) to the outter edges (where the bearings are).

i would recommend upgrading to an aftermarket carrier. the initial cost may be up there a little, but being able to grease the bearings makes them last so much longer. had my carrier for 3.5 years (typo on my earlier post) and its still like brand new, no play in the bearings and rolls smooth. i check and grease once a month

[guinness77]

Carrier bearing change out.

Elevate the quad so the rear tires are off the ground.
Remove the chain. However way you want to do it is fine. Just be certain to loosen the 4 pinch bolts on the rear of the swing arm. Gently and carefully pry the pinched area open. A millimeter will do fine.
Remove the right rear wheel and hub. You can do this by removing the cotter pin from the hub bolt and removing the hub bolt. (The wheel should slide off).
Remove the skid plate.
Unscrew to rear brake caliper and rest it on the swing arm.
There are 2 big nuts on the axel to the right of the break rotor. They look like just 1 nut. but they are 2.
Spray a liberal amount of WD40 into the nuts. Take a rubber mallet and strike the nuts with about 5 lbs of force. Not much, just enough to force a little movement of the nuts on their threads.

Now you can unscrew the inside nut. Try wiggling it both ways to help get it loose. You'll probably find it needs lots more WD40 and it's reverse threaded (I think). Loosen it up by about 1/4 inch. If it won't turn, use a butane torch to heat the nuts. Since WD40 is flammable, be sure to wipe the nuts with a shop rag. You will probably need a cheater bar to get those nuts loose. As they loosen, they will move inward towards the brake rotor. Eventually, you'll expose a round clip that wraps around the axel. Use needle nose pliers to open that clip up and off the axel. You can now return the nuts back out to release the break rotor and mount off the axel.
On the inside of the break rotor/mount is a flat piece. I think it's called the carrier/break stay. It's bolted to the swing arm. Remove it.

The axel should now slide leftward and out. It will probably take a pounding with the rubber mallet to get it out.
Once out, get the grime off of it completely. I find a wire brush does the job very well. An air powered wire brush will save you an hour of work here.
Back to the swing arm now..
The carrier should slide out towards the left. Some gentle tapping with the mallet on the right side will help. On the carrier are 2 rubber gaskets. Carefully inspect them. If they are broken or damaged, replace them.
Be certain not to damage the carrier in any way during any of the total process.
Now that the carrier is out you can look into the center and see there are 2 rubber dust covers on the outside, then the 2 bearings, and in the very middle is a cylindrical spacer. The dust covers are easy to pry out. One on either side. Remove them and toss them. Then you have to remove the bearings. Once again, there is one on either side. Inserting a screwdriver into the one end of the carrier and tapping out the bearing on the other end of the carrier is the most common way to get them out. They are a very tight fit indeed. If you have to ruin them, no prob. But do not damage the carrier or spacer in the process. Once you get one bearing out, the spacer will fall out and the last bearing will be a breeze to tap out. Toss the bearings.

I cannot over emphasize this next bit....
Thoroughly clean the carrier, the spacer, and all other parts. Clean the inside of the carrier housing. Leave no residual oil or grease in there.

The bearing kit will tell you which side of the new bearings to face out. Place the bearing onto the carrier and make sure the carrier is flatly supported onto a very solid surface. Find a socket that patches the bearing size to tap in the bearing WITHOUT hitting the surrounding carrier. I think it's 1.25". But I might be wrong. Place the socket on the bearing and then begin tapping on the socket making sure the bearing goes in flat and completely. Turn over the carrier and drop in the spacer. Then insert the next bearing and tap it in the same way you did the other side.
Now go back to the original bearing and use the socket/mallet to gently tap it back flush into the base of its housing. You'll notice the bearings are inset into the housing. The 1/4 inch recess is to conform to the dust covers. Spring side in, insert the dust covers in the same manner as the bearings. The dust covers are the hard part of all this. They are a major pain in the rear end.
Once all that is done, liberally grease the inside of the carrier with the proper grease. ( I forgot what kind). Also grease the middle of the axel on the contact surfaces. DO NOT GREASE the inside if the swing arm.

Put the 2 outside carrier gaskets onto the outside of the carrier.

Insert the carrier back into the swing arm. Should be no problem here.

Put everything back together in reverse order except for the chain and wheel hub.

Lift the axel at one end. There should be no up-and-down free play. At least, there sure wasn't any when I did it. If there is free play, then either the wrong bearings were purchased, or the axel is trashed.

If everything is ok, then put everything back together. Remember, there is lots of grease in there. So the axel will have some very slight resistance to spinning. But that'll go away.

This next point is by far the most important. You know those 2 big nuts on the axel? Well... they're going to come loose. So check them (and re-tighten them if need be) after the 1st 30 minutes of riding, the 1st hour of riding, and then after every 6 hrs for next several rides. Be sure to bring the right tools to get those nuts tightened.

[REDRIDDER]

(Carrier bearing change out.) nice write up guiness77 ,wow i would of liked to say something along those lines but my patience and typing skills wernt up to the task lol...but yeah good write up, is it out of some manual or something? lol

[Dill]

on 250R's, EX's etc, I usually heat the carrier up good with a propane torch around the bearing races, and with some good whacks onto a wooden work surface the bearing will slide out flush with the end of the carrier. Then the screwdriver through the other end method to get it out the rest of the way.

[guinness77]

Originally posted by REDRIDDER
(Carrier bearing change out.) nice write up guiness77 ,wow i would of liked to say something along those lines but my patience and typing skills wernt up to the task lol...but yeah good write up, is it out of some manual or something? lol

Nahhhh....
I've had to change out by bearings 2 or 3 times. So wrote down the instructions and saved it on the hard drive. That makes posting reallllllyyy easy.