honda 300ex axle play

[nater357]

i have 1996 honda 300ex fourtrax and i noticed that the axle on the brake rotor side has a little bit of up and down play at rear end housing, is this normal or do i need bearing? also i dont know if the rear end needs oil in it or do the bearings just take grease?

[josh79z28]

you need bearings and it's not oil it's grease

[josh79z28]

you need bearings and they don't oil it's grease

[nater357]

how do you change bearings in rear end

[rappin_ernie]

Loosen the axle nuts, remove rear brake, take off wheels and hubs, remove axle nuts and disc hub. Slide the axle out. Next you can either remove the carrier and removed the bearings, or you can leave it in to keep the carrier stable. Get a punch or a steel bar and knock out the bearings from the inside. If the carrier is still in the swing arm, remove it to press the bearings. If you can't press the bearings in you will need to tap them in. After you clean out the old grease and debris, Stand up the carrier and tap one of the bearings in using an object about the same size as the bearing ( Socket works good for this). Try to tap in the bearing evenly to avoid warping or damaging the carrier. Only tap on the metal parts of the bearing. You can damage the bearing if you hit the rubber/plastic bearing guard. Before you tap the next bearing in, don't forget to replace the spacer. Grease it up really good before you put it back. Now tap the the other bearing in. Make sure they are pressed all the way in. The spacer should not have play between the bearings. Once the bearings are set, you need to push the grease seals in. Before you put them in, fill the inside of the seals with grease. Try to push the bearings in with your fingers, but if you can't get them in, use a socket again to tap them in gently with a hammer. Now that you bearings are in, it is time to reassemble your rear end. Put the carrier back in, slide in your axle, put on the brake hub, put on the brake, slip on the axle nuts, put your wheels and hubs on, and then tighten your axle nuts so there is no side to side play in your axle. When you are all done, jack up the rear of you atv and check for any play. If everything is tight, you should be ready to role! Hope this helps.

[Tommy Warren]

or you can do it like I did....just forget about it until you bearings fly apart, bend your axle collar, shatter your bearing carrier and distroy your sprocket hub... then buy a new axle, bearing carrier, bearings, collar, seals, and o-rings. :huh on second thought just replace the bearings now.;) but don't forget to get all new seals and o-rings to keep sand mud and water out.

[deathman53]

I disagree with hitting in new bearings, they need to be pressed in or freeze/heat method. The way I do it is, put the new bearings in the freezer for several hours. Remove the carrier, use a PROPANE torch and heat the center of the carrier evenly, you will hear some noises. When its hot, tap the outside of the bearings with punch and they will come out very easy. Clean the carrier with a rag, NO WATER, you will crack the carrier. Heat the carrier back up, get it hot, Run to the freezer, grab a bearing and it will drop right in, put in the center tube. Re-heat if needed, run the freezer and grab the other bearing, it should drop in. Hold the bearings in with large sockets or a pipe. When everything is room temp. put grease on the seals and push them in.

The bearings should be locked in there and won't fall out. If the bearings fall out or are a loose fit, then the carrier is shot or you have the wrong bearings. Instead of the propane torch,you can stick the carrier in your oven @ ~300 degrees. I don't know how well this will fly, it might smoke some from oil/grease. Another way people do this is with a hot plate. Don't accelerate the cooling by dipping in it in water or so, you can/will crack or warp the carrier.

I've rebuild a good number of carriers using this method w/o damage. By heating the carrier you hare expanding it and freezing the bearings you are shrinking them. When the 2 meet, they heat/cool each other and the carrier will try to push out the bearings as everything returns to its original state. This is why you have to hold the bearings in place for a few minutes. Hitting new bearings is never a good idea.

If its a stock carrier, it shouldn't take much to expand it enough. Usually you can tell when its ready, when you see grease coming from around the bearings.

[rappin_ernie]

That's a good method too, but you need to be careful when you're heating the carrier if you use a torch. It must be heated evenly or you could warp the carrier. It also needs to cool slowly or the carrier may warp or crack.
There is nothing wrong with tapping in bearings as long as you do it right. Hitting against the outer sleeve should not damage the bearing at all as long as you are using something that is the same size as the sleeve. This is how I always replace my axle bearings and I have never once had a problem.

[MTDman11]

that heating trick sounds pretty cool to me. as far as pressing goes. well my best friends dad is the buisness manager for a machine shop. what we did was have then machine a peice of strong plastic the exact size of the whole bearing like outer sleeve and everything. so when we press it, everything is even.

[nater357]

well i appreciate all the info, should make things go alot better. my buddy thinks it may be the carrier because their isnt any humming or growling coming from bearing, but its hard to tell with the knobby tires. I guess that Ill find out when I tear it apart if the carrier hole is out of round.

[deathman53]

I've ridden on bad carrier bearing and not noticed it. The way to tell is put a bike stand(or metal gas can) under the swingarm and move the axle around, any play and its likely to be the carrier bearings. At the same time, watch the swingarm, movement in that means swingarm bearings.

[nater357]

where is a good place to get cheap atv tires?

[Imbroke]

im having the same problem but i cant get the axle nut loose at wont budge i have tried everything and i cant get it loose so if anyone knows any methods for getting it off that would be helpfull

[Tommy Warren]

get someone to hold the back brakes on and put a pipe wrench on the nut...then put a big bar on the pipe wrench handle and give it a twist. maybe try heating it up a little. and they are left hand threads also.

[Imbroke]

i dont have a back brake but i just got it with two pipe wrenchs and i bent the hell out of one and broke one but i got it thanks

[nater357]

well i finally got around to replacing my carrier bearings and managed to crack the aluminum carrier in the process. so now i am trying to find a replacement but ebay only has high dollar race carriers. My quad is just an old beater so i dont want to sink alot into it. Anybody know where to find cheap aftermarket or used carriers? My buddy said their are atv salvage yards but so far i cant find them. i dont think i can go to much longer without a ride.help please.

[Tommy Warren]

Just keep your eye on ebay I got a brand new billet carrier with wide bearings and seals for 150 shipped to canada

also keep your eye on the honda parts for sale threads sometimes you'll get lucky and buy a carrier before someone else does.