I have a popping noise coming from the front end of my 300 4X4 Fourtrax. I bought this wheeler and haven't even put 1 mile on it. I put a $550 OEM rear end in it, 2 new CV boots, front seals and wheel bearings. When I pulled the axles I completely cleaned the cv joints - removed all grease/grime, ball bearings and made everything spotless. No gouges, scars or pitted areas. Filled everything full of CV grease, put it back together and it pops like crazy up front while driving straight or turning.

I found out that I can put it in reverse and cut the wheels all the way one way and do reverse circles without it popping?

While the axles were out I flushed the front differential, topped it off with new fluids and went through a few gears (while on ATV lift) to make sure everything sounded fine.......

I'm leaning towards CV axles, but everything (inner and outer) appear in great working order.... I highly doubt this would be tie rod ends, but I guess I could pull both axles and try again.....Any thoughts?

 

"I highly doubt this would be tie rod ends" - I meant to say ball joints. Another thought while driving to work this morning that I need to rule out before proceeding. I made a rookie mistake, I put the lug nuts on finger tight, then lowered the atv to the floor. I was going to tighten the lugs with the tires on the floor to keep the wheels from turning - I forgot to tighten them. I'll do that tonight then update this post.
May not have anything to do with it, may have everything to do with it.

 

I'm an idiot, crisis averted. The tires front and rear are the same size so it is causing binding issues. I aired up the rear and deflated the front and the popping quit instantly. Time to order new rear tires (larger) SMH

 

We all make dumb mistakes. Don't fret.

 

People forget they can change tire sizes but the ratio has to stay the same. The ratio on the 300 is 1" larger rear.
Deflating the tires was a good fix for now idea though.

 

Deflating was just to prove whether it was a ratio issue. Hate to have to swap these tires, they were a matching set that were basically brand new when I bought the ATV. Oh well, crying about it isn't going to fix it

 

Just bought this honda 300. It has new bearings I had put in. Now the front end is making a noise. Guy told me to change the tires and it will stop the noise. Honda has 24x8x12 on front and 24x10x11 tires on back. Anybody know whether this will cause a noise in front end ? Thanks

 

Well original poster of this thread seemed to find that it did. You won't get it off road as the strain will be released by the wheels slipping slightly to compensate. Other causes of front end noise are worn front diff, CV joints and front wheel bearings, so check all of them first. I had one where the front/rear ratio difference made the front prop shaft pull out of the diff every few yards, and release the tension with a bang, turned out that the lower frame tubes had rotted through, allowing just enough stretch for this to happen.

 

Did not make noise until I had bearings replaced, and boot put on front. Don't make noise in reverse.

 

If a CV joint needs a boot, dirt and water may have got in, leading to wear in it. I have done so many I can usually tell by the amount of slop in it, or turning the wheel by hand while touching the drive shaft, sometimes you can feel a slight click when on one lock or the other. More difficult on 300s as they are fixed 4WD though.