Just picked up this AC 400 4x4 Auto, Has a clunk....clunk.....clunk at vary low speed. Found a thread that said it was a loose nut on the driven pulley. but a dealer said NO it's always behind the clutch and you need to split the cases to repair it. So I'm going to start at the beginning and work my way back to the motor. Need to know how to tell if a cv joint is worn or bad ?

Sorry to be such a pain, just never played with ATVs

Thanks

 

It could also be a wheel bearing. jack the atv up and wiggle the tires. If there is alot of movement,then the bearings are shot. I would guess you could do the same to find out if the cv joints are shot as well. Ive never tried it.

 

Never thought about bearings, good call on that one. Any one else know about the cv joints ? I was told to just grab the shaft and see if it wiggles, can it be just that simple ?

Boy I hate to look like a fool

Thanks

 

Mudslinginfool
Thanks for the tip on wheel bearings. Went out and checked all 4 and found 3 had a lot of play. I take it replace only, parts break-down not showing if it a sealed or 2 part deal. Now if it could be adjusted like automotive I'd be soooo happy.

Yanked the axle shaft and the front 2 in-board cv's moved just enough to see it. Could they be bad or is this normal ?

Thanks agin

 

yeah, you need to replace them bearings,and if 3 are out you may as well do all four b/c the 4th wont be too far behind on going out also. If you are a pretty good hands on learning type of guy,you may be able to do it yourself. first time i did mine, it took me a while to figure everything out but it was a pretty simple job and after you do one it only takes about 45 minutes to do each wheel,that can vary though. bearings are $30.00 at he dealer but im sure you can find some cheaper,maybe even better, somewhere else. Although ive done my own several times,to tell you how to replace them on here is kinda difficult. Otherwise i could walk you through it right now. As far as the cv joints, i have no clue what to do about them. i havent had to deal with that yet. If you do attempt it,let me/us know if you have any questions any ill try my best. I can tell you a few tools i used, a vise,rubber hammer,flat head screw driver,grease,sometimes my hand grinder(if the bearing race is stuck on it, i had to heat it up and cut it off. only once though),thats all i can think of right now.

 

Hands on is not a problem, used to build show HD's back in the 70's
Now if someone could help with some info I'll go one step more.

Need the maker and numbers on ac bearing part # 0402-275 this is on the face of the inter race.

I know of a place that sells just bearings & seals ( for anything ) once I have the numbers I'll see if they can cross ref it to something.

Now this is my idea, ac wheel bearings are the crapest design I've ever seen. one long outer race with two sets of bearings and two inter races. Once we know the size of everything. I'm looking at getting two sealed high speed bearings, stack one on top of the other to make it the same size as OEM

No more mud, water or anything getting in and tearing things up
No more packing bearings every year

So if anyone can help

Thanks

 

I have been unable to cross reference the numbers for quite some time. Even won some $ from a friend who used to work in a local bearing shop and after an exhaustive search could come close but could not quite match it. You can get the seals but nor the bearings. Let me know if you can because then I would have to return the $.

last time I needed bearings (about 3000miles ago) I put in the All ***** Racing sealed bearings all the way around my 400 and AC bearings in my 500 TRV. I am trying to see which last longer. I get my standard bearings to last longer by replacing the seals and repacking the bearings once a year. Usually in the winter when I do a bunch of maintenance stuff. I will be pushing 20,000 miles by the end of this year on each machine.

I was able to get the all ***** racing sealed bearings for about $5-$10 less then OEM. Time will tell which is better.

SJ

 

By chance do you still have a old set around that you could get the numbers off of ? If I have these I can look it up or If you have the numbers on the sealed racing ones, I'll use those. Just can't see paying all that money when Bearings should be about $6 to $9 each.

If they can't cross ref the numbers we can mic it and get the info but I'll have to pull one out.

 

I just moved so I am not sure I have the old one or not but I could not find any numbers on it before. We could find two sealed bearings that could be installed next to each other but they were just wide enough you could not get the retainer clip back into its groove so I decided not to go that way. The outer race is very wide instead of two bearings spaced a little ways apart like a trailer axle this these are connected with a common race.

Nearest we could figure is AC (or their supplier) still has a some kind of patent on them so the specifications are not released yet so a bearing manufacturer can tool them. Unless they want to pay $.

The all ***** racing bearing set I think cost $35 and had the bearing, and seals in the kit. the outer seal is the easy one to find as its a standard size the inner dust seal has a special rubber lip that you can only get from AC (or suzuki) it is like $5.

So far I am very happy with my replacements. Easy install and no problems yet. I will check to see if I can find my garage first then the box with the parts located in it. I will get back to you.

SJ

 

Not to change the subject,but swampy,you almost have 20,000 miles on your cats?? Impressive! Ive seen in an article of a guy that had 45,000 miles on his 500 and it was used in a lumber yard and said it never got turned off,ran 24hrs a day 7 days a week and he rebuilt the top end once.