I bought a project quad a while ago- '00 AC 500Auto. Have been working on the engine/trans and the brakes. Now I'm checking out the front end. How much play should there be in the front differential. What I mean is - should there be any lag between turning the driveshaft and the spinning of the front axles? I can spin the front driveshaft almost 180 degrees before the axles move. The previous owner disconnected the front diff engagement rod, too.

Should I just pull the diff out and apart, or is this normal clearance?

Thanks for any help,
Steve H.

 

sounds like alot to me. my bike is not here at the moment to check but i think it turns no more than an eighth of a turn. 180 seems alot. let me ask this, Is that with the bike already locked in 4x4 or do you lock it in then try turning it. because there might be a little bit of play before the diff. engages. but once engaged it should be no more than an eighth of turn i believe. hopefully someone else can help clearify this.

 

Well I pulled the front diff out today and took it apart a bit. Everything looks good inside. Nothing noteably worn and no broken parts. The amount of movement between the diff and the ring gear is controlled by cogs/fingers being inserted between slots, so there is no adjustment in the amount of play. Not sure if that makes sense or not. I did find that the rod going into the side of the diff that controls the engagement was binding and/or frozen to the side cover. That may of had something to do with the problem.

For now I'm just cleaning it up and reinstalling it with new fluid. Hopefully once I get it moving it will be apparent if it's working right or not.

Thanks for the help.
Steve H.