WHile mine had very little wear indicating before going riding, I was lucky to get out of the woods last weekend. Guys, keep an eye on your axle bearing wear and swingarm wear too.
On to my question.....has anyone replaced their Raptor axle bearings yet? Any pointers? THanks.

 

My axle bearings went all of a sudden too. Was there a noise coming from the rear that sounded like the chain hitting the gaurd or something? To try to find the origin of the noise I took off the swingarm skid plate and rode around to see if the noise quit. I didn't realize it was the bearings until I jacked up the rear and spun the wheels. I noticed some slop in the axle (side to side play) and figured it was the bearings. I think the cause of the problem is the 2 axle nuts come loose over time and the extra play in the axle destroys the bearings. Hopefully, by keeping these nuts tight, you (and I) wont have the same problem for a while.

 

I just had the same experience as raptordan. I havent taken mine apart yet. (axle pretty loose, and banging/crunching sound)
oh well

 

Usually you can get a beater bar or socket extension in the from the opposite side a little cocked and beat the bearing out. Unfortunately when the bearings go bad this can also beat out the inner race leaving the outer stuck in the carrier with hardly any room to beat them out and nothing to get a good whack at.

If that happens to you I suggest finding a stick welder and run a bead around the inside of the outer race, this gives you something to beat on instead of just slipping off and the heat will make it come out with little force.

 

Sounds like it is time to get an extended swing-arm!!!

This is a great excuse.

Put a +4 on my Wife's Raptor (milc 686) and I love it. The front end still comes up when I want it too and for drags I can lean over the tank and keep the front end down.

IMO the Raptor should be +2 from the factory.

Oh, with stock A-arms I find it to be very dunable still!

 

Is the noise constant or intermittent?
Mine makes that kind of noise when I'm in the whoops or when I land a jump. It could just be the chain, but after reading this, I'm kinda paranoid!
Guess I'll have to check it out.....

 

Raptorchick....I bet it's the chain. Duneme....I say the Raptor should have been +2 from the factory all the time. It was only competing with the 400ex when introduced....and it's a wheelie machine, so I guess Yamaha felt they had too make the Raptor the same. With my +4 the machine is perfect

 

just added a plus 3 tucker and it looks great and i hope performs as great,trying it out at Glamis in 3 days..ooh yea..

 

garyc660R,
You're probably right, but I'm still going to check the axle nuts just to make sure they're tight.
A little preventive maintenance can go a long way.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

 

in my case,,,it is defenitely the bearings.

It came on like a heart attack. Sounded like the chain slap,,,,but it got worse very quickly. The mile back to camp was a noisy one.

I put it up on a crate,,,and voila,,,,wobbly axle.

Im actually surprised it lasted this long.