One of my good friends has an 89' fourtrax 300 2x4. A while back, he smacked a tree and warped his real axle, and put his bike up in the garage. Recently another friend and I both bought new quads, and we asked him to start riding with us. Well he got his old honda out and got to riding it. Its ok until he gets up to say, 25 or 30 mph, then you can notice a definate vibration from his rear axle. What I am wondering, is there anything short of replacing his rear axle to fix the problem, and if not, where could he find such an axle and what would it cost.

 

yeah man, this is kinda brutal, but me and my freind did it to his warrior----get a torch and heat that sucker till its cherry, then put a pipe on the threads where the hub nut would go(nice and long)....put the high side(bent side) facing up, and while you have 1 person hold the quad, and one person hold the other side of the axle, put some weight on the pipe... youll see the axle change texture, like "grow scales" where it it cherry red....stop at this point and check your alighnment by turning the axle....keep turning it and putting weight on the high side utill it is real close.....but most importantly: go slow....the more you bend it, the weaker it will get...oh, and this will probably weaken the axle somewhat, so keep that in mind when your in the woods

 

I have repaired many of these axles (I am senior tech for a Honda dealer).
I have also replaced many also. There are aftermarket axles available as well as replacements from Honda.

I recomend replacement. If you opt to repair, DO NOT HEAT WITH A TORCH. Unless you know how to retemper the axle by proper cooling.
What I have done for repair is after removing the axle, place it into a press and gradually work it straight using a number of steps, stopping to check the progress by placing the axle in a set of V- blocks to check for straightness by rotating it. Then put it back in the press, bend some more, V-bluck, press, V-block etc ....

Try not to bend too much at once to retain the natural temper of the axle. Once a axle has been heated by bending too much or with a torch, it can crystalize the steel and cause a week spot. Whitch can lead to serious injury if the axle sheeres during operation.

----- Gimpster -----

 

All of this work for a $200.00 axle???

Honda has an axle update kit that retails for $193.00

The kit includes the axle, both hubs, and new axle/hub nuts.

This axle is made in the US. This kit is designed for '88-'95 TRX300 models. The axle itself is available for '96-'00 models.
If your's has already been updated at some point, the US axle is available seperately for $130.00

Do not take this axle to be considered OEM. Although Honda sells it as a replacement, it is not OEM equipment on any of the '96-'00 models.

 

You say you can get this for $ 193. Say he bought the axle up grade, how hard is it to install. We have access to all the tools needed, but I don't have that much experience working on quads. If it were fairly simple to install i believe i could handle it. What's yalls opinion.

 

My origional recomendation was to replace the axle.

The toughest part is to reomve the jam nuts, that hold the axle centered. I eather use a hamerwrench to knock them loose or a huge cresent wrench and a torch to warm up the nut. The nuts are held in place with a locking agent from the factory. The hubs nust removed as well as the brake panel cover, and brake drum. The brakes need be backed off to remove the drum of coarse. Then the axle slides out from the side,

-----Gimpster ------

 

Gimpster,

I didn't post my comments intended for sarcasm purposes, but after reading it I see what you meant.....LOL

What I was trying to do was point out to bama ,that for $200, he could save alot of work in straightening his old axle and then it may not even work right.

bama,

Most dealers keep this axle upgrade on the shelf because it is a popular upgrade.

 

Thanx guys. Ill tell my friend about this, he may be interested in upgrading. I know im just now asking, but he was also wondering about putting a set of agressive mud tires on the rear of his bike, possibly some vampires, 589's, Outlaws, etc. Would it be worth his effort to have this axle worked on if he were going to mount some tires like this? With the added vibration on the big lugs, would he even be able to tell his axle had a little wobble?