First of all, a big thanks to RoadKillJoe for posting the procedure for tightening the rear axle nuts on the Raptor. I know it is a hassle to pull out the manual and retype the process. I ordered a tool made by Motion Pro expecially for tightening the 50mm axle nuts on Yamaha quads. It has one wrench for the inner axle and one for the outer axle and both work with a torque wrench.

I took the Raptor to a dealer since it is still under warranty and figured the dealer could tighten the axle nuts for free while I was waiting on the Motion Pro wrenches to arrive in the next 10 days. The service manager looked at the Raptor and said the axle nuts had not moved at all. I had to agree that they didn't look like they moved and they certainly aren't loose. He also said it was normal for the more powerful quads to develop play where the brake and sprocket collars connect to the splines on the axle. He said it was more common to develop play where the wheel spindles connect to the splines. He told me to continue riding it and didn't even want to loosen and retighten the axle nuts. I asked him if it is likely the splines will eventually strip all the way loose. He said he hasn't seen it happen yet.

Okay, my axles are somewhat bent anyhow and I am looking at the Lonestars. He said this would happen no matter which axle I got. He recommended one made by RPM and when questioned said the problem is worse on the DuraBlues than even the factory axles. He ragged on the warranty with the DuraBlues too. This all sounds like BS to me but just wondered if others have experienced this on both the factory axles and then with replacement axles.

Let me know your thoughts since I plan to ride this weekend without tightening the axle nuts. I would say I have about 1/32" of play side to side in the axle. With all the play, it is like having a free floating sprocket and brake rotor.

 

The stock axle on my Raptor bent before anything had a chance to loosen up. The outside 50mm nut was a nasty pain to loosen up at first. I even had metal shavings falling out for the first few turns. Nothing is loose now with the Lonestar, though.

I have a Durablue on my 400EX, and I really dont like the way the way it has chrome plating on the part of the axle that the bearings ride on. That chrome plating has partially worn off, and now I have a little wiggle in the axle, kind of like the bearings are going even when they're new.

On neither axle do I have the type of problems your dealer is talking about, though. If everything is tightened, properly, I can't imagine why any of the parts he mentioned should have any play.

 

Could your bearings be shot?

 

I guess it is possible but it doesn't seem to have any play between the axle and the axle carrier except for some side to side movement. I ran it last night at the track for 2 hours and it seems to be the same as it was before I started riding. When the new wrench shows up I am going to take it all apart and check everything out. I will post the results.

By the way, checked on the RPM axle. I don't think they make a Dominator axle for a Raptor yet.

 

Talked to one of the engineers at RPM. The Dominator axle won't be available for the Raptor for 1-2 months. RPM makes all the axles in one production run for all the various quads. The Raptor wasn't released in time for them to make it during the last production run.

The good thing about getting a Dominator axle is that it has a true lifetime guarantee except for shipping charges no matter how many times you bend it or break it where most of the other axles have one-time replacement guarantees.

The engineer also told me that it was very unlikely that I had damaged the splines on the axle (see the problem I listed above). He said it is most likely the brake and sprocket carriers that are damaged. This would be caused from have too much play when the axle nuts were tightened. He said the sideplay in the axle is a major no-no. I definitely recommend checking your quads out for front-to-back and side-to-side play in your brake rotor and sprocket.

By the way, RPM is also aware of the design problems with Yamahas steering stem. They are looking at a replacement steering shaft that has bearings both on top and the bottom. It will bolt to the existing holes at the top of the frame. Anybody else suffering from play in the steering at the top? Am I the only one casing it trying to clear doubles? I have replaced the plastic bushings a couple of times.