The bearings in my 02 400ex have seen better days and are going to be replaced soon. THe ones it currently has are the stock ones I believe and I am torn between going OEM or aftermarket, here are the ones I am looking at.
400EX STOCK OEM BEARING CARRIER 99 – 09
OEM carrier
HONDA 400EX BILLET AXLE BEARING CARRIER BC-H-400EX #369 : UTV-ATV Axles : Honda ATV Axles
The aftermarket carrier.

What attracts me to the aftermarket one mainly is the grease zerk and I don't believe the OEM has that, but I haven't been able to find any reviews on this particular carrier, does anyone have experience with this or superatv products? Which would be best to go with do you think?

 

Is the carrier bad? If not you dont have to replace it. I have always run a stock carrier and never had any issues at all with them, and I beat the F out of my ex and dont clean it. The only reason I would buy a aftermarket carrier would be it was dual row. IMHO the carrier with the grease zerk is useless. The bearings are sealed.... So what good does it do to grease them??? Boss Bearing on ebay is a great place to buy bearings and seals.

 

BTW GDH racing has great used parts. I have bought alot from them. Parts are super clean and in mint shape but you pay good $ for them ...

 

Lonestar Racing makes a nice carrier for the ex. It has a dual row bearing setup and is quite sturdy.

 

Pretty sure, it clicks, pops, and bangs back there pretty vigorously if I ride it and the left side of the axle gets warm after awhile as if it's under stress.

 

Yup, thats shot axle bearings but not necessarily the carrier.

 

But the bearings are inside the carrier right? So I'd have to replace the whole thing? Never torn one of these apart so have no clue what to look for in there.

 

You can replace the bearings only. If the bearing carrier is in good shape reuse it. With the carrier removed you want to inspect the ends looking for cracks and general damage.
If the outside looks good remove the old bearings. Tap them out with a wood dowel or something soft so you dont damage the inside of the carrier. If the inside of the carrier looks good, no grooves. Install new bearings.
This video does a good job showing you how to remove the axle.