Hey guys,

The bearing on my drive axle is totaled on the clutch side!!

I've taken off my secondary & pulled the speedo off.

There's nothing left of my bearing. The inner sleeve of the bearing is still on the axle.

If i can get the old bearing off the axle, CAN i change it without removing the axle from the machine?

Anybody done this or have any suggetions...please, please..

Thanks,

DDubya

HI, yes you can, its just a little bit awkward working in such a tight spot.
i've run into the same problem on used machine that i bought for my wife. The entire bearing was gone exept the inner bearing race, which had eaten its way through the speedometer houseing and had started to eat downward through the tunnel.. Makes a person think about using a grease gun a little more. Anyway you can get the inner race off by CAREFULLY heating it with a small propane torch. Or you can use a small cutoff wheel on a diegrinder to split the race and then slide it off.
Having said that, by far the easyest way to replace the bearing is to remove the driveshaft and mount it in a vice so that you can get a little bit physical with a hammer and punch to get the race off. If you need some help with that job ,just let me know. It's really not as hard a job as you might think.
Take care, Ryan

Ryan,

Thanks alot. Ya the bearing started eating away at the speedometer houseing. I'll have to order one of those up tomorrow. Luckily I caught it before it started chewing through the chassis!!

At this point I have to take the inner race off the shaft. I'll do that first thing tomorrow. Also, I noticed that the drive axle is not centered. I think that I might have to loosed track tension or remove suspension.??? - so that I can have more play in the axle, for when i put back together

So what would you recommend the next step for me to take. Can i slide the the new bearing on through the clutch side? How do i get the old speedo drive insert out? And the end of the speedo cable is chewed up.. Do i replace the entire cable?

Further help is really appreciated.

thanks!!!!

Welding machine, ground clamp on bearing race, hit it with 1 or 2 shot at high amps and watch it disintegrate, be careful not to hit the axle !!

Okay, so once i get it off (Remember i still have axle/track/suspension still in machine), how do i go about installing new bearing and speedo cable with axle still in machine??


Thanks

Hey man
The end of the drive axel will not look centered because of the tension on the track. You will definately have to loosen the track right off to get the bearing cup back on. There will be two adjustment bolts at the back of the suspension just ahead and inside of the rear suspension wheels, unless your machine is an older yamaha in which case the bolts are accessed through the drive windows at the rear of the track. As far as installing the new bearing, it really helps to polish the end of the shaft with a strip of emery cloth to help the new bearing slide on. What i do is set the new bearing on top a peice of plate steel on top of the wood stove in my shop to warm it up and expand it slightly before i slide and tap it gently onto the shaft. Once you have the bearing started on the shaft, use a large socket which just clears the shaft but seats against the INNER RACE, NOT THE ROLLERS OR THE OUTER RACE to drive it on the rest of the way. A little heavy grease on the shaft will help too. As far as the speedo drive goes, every sled is different. You will have to replace the cable if the end is chewed up, there is really no way to fix those. On my sled the end of the cable is a square shaft about one inch long which just slides into a square hole in the end of the drive shaft. What does yours look like?
Have fun , Ryan

I just looked on the bombardier parts web site and it looks like your machine has an electronic speed sensor, instead of a cable. I assume that you are working on the 04 800 mxz listed in your profile?

RSQ - the machine is a 1995 skandic 503.

Guys,

I got the old bearing off and installed the new part and a few other new parts...LOL. I had heard horror stories about changing this bearing(i.e dropping suspension, removing track, removing axle.....hours and hours of work....etc, etc.) Anyways, I did it in the drive way on a nice sunny day and it took about 2 hours mainly because i'd never done it before.

1. Removed the belt and secondary clutch

2. Unscrewed speedometer. (the end was chewed up, so i had to buy a new cable - $30)

3 Removed 3 nuts that held on bearing houseing and spacer. The bearing housing was totaled because the axle bearing was completely destroyed and the axle was beginning to eat through the houseing. (Had to buy a new bearing housing - $50)

4. The only thing left of the bearing was the inner race which was stuck on the axle. I put the sled on its side so i was looking down at the bearing. I heated with a small propane torch for ten minutes, then hit the bearing with a screwdrive and hammer a couple times and it fell off. In the process, I mangleed the small ball bearing protector (Had to replace the ball bearing protector - $5)

5 Also missing was the Speedo Drive insert - Replaced that for $1

6 Cost of bearing #6305 - $13.

7. I had to loosen the track tension too because it was pulling on the axle and i couldn't get in centered to install new bearing and housing. Later when i went to adjust track tension, it took alot of trial and error before i was satisfied the tension.

8. Bolted it all back together and away we went. I put about 50 miles on it. I'm gonna take a look in the next couple of days and check that nothing moved or loosened

Any questions guys, let me know

And thanks again for the help and ideas...i love this site.

DW

Ryan,

My speedo cable was the same set up as yours. Just a square piece that slides into the speedo insert. the speedo insert slides into the end of the axle. Like you basically said, a no brainer. The other end of the speedo cable has a square piece as well that just slides in the speedometer gauge. The cable was probably the easiest piece of equipment of i ever changed ....lol

Thanks again man!!!

D

Glad to help bud. I love this site too. Lots of years of knowledge and experience to draw from on one web site.
Take care Ryan

Hey Wardstar, when a PTO side axle bearing goes like yours did you will have inherant damage to the lower chaincase bearing also. This occurs since the chaincase bearing must now absorb the twist and torsion effect of the missaligned drive axle due to the absence of the opposing bearing.

Without removing the axle and inspecting the lower chaincase bearing (turning it by hand to prove smoothness) the job is incomplete and you cannot have confidence for the long distance trips. Remember, any bearing noise is vibration and is a sign that a bearing's life is limited.

Cheers, Sledd.