Guys,

The swing arm doen not appear to have any play in it. I jacked up the machine, removed the rear shock and and tires and tried to move the swingarm in many directions. It only moved in it's normal up and down direction with no side to side play. It did not make any noise when I did this. If i jump up and down on the foot pegs it will make the noise almost every time. Sounds like a loud popping /snapping noise. I really do not want to tear down the entire rear end to find that nothing is wrong. I will do so though if I can not find the source of the noise soon. I do not want to take a chance on further dammage. Thoughts?

ED

 

FAST ED
yep your bearings are gone, when shifting your weight back and forth it pops or snaps, its a sure sign they are screwed

 

Hmm? Yes you could freeze them and it may help. They should not be a press fit. To really diagnose the bearings I would remove the tries and disconnect the shock. Then move the arm up and down or side to side feeling for a bind or noise.
If and when the arm is pulled off, remove the drive shaft and check the u-joints for stiffness or if the caps are turning in the bores. Take care not to loose the spring in the diff input shaft.

 

Guys,

You were right on the money. My swingarm bearings on both sides were completely TOAST. Root cause analysis=the rubber plug in the swingarm underneth the rear skidplate was missing!![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img] Lucliky, the 424 in the rear diff had enough emulsifiers in it to save the bearings in the rear end. I have no idea how the plug could be missing. I have never removed the skidplate that is covering the plug so I assume that it must have been missing since new. I have drilled and tapped all of the plug holes now and have threaded plugs in place of the rubber ones. I totally cleaned out/rinsed the entire swingarm and am in the process of installing the replacement roller bearings (Thanks The Rock NAPA PN is same as Timken 30203) A few more hours and I will be on my way to the trails!!
ED

 

I just did mine last wekend. I had the same problem that there was no play in the swingarm
but when i steped from floorboard to floorboard it would make a poping noise. The rises where
a pain in the a$$ to get out but the new ones when in without a problem. My swingarm boot
was torn and it was like that all summer, so the water and mud got in and rusted the bearings.
I check the boot in may and it was fine. I put almost 1200 miles on with the boot torn. I dont think
it damaged anything else. The bearings,rises and the boot cost 100 cnd or 65 usd.

 

The boot getting torn is one reason why I put The Ricochet skid plate on. It extends a tad over 2 inches rearward more than the OE foil.

 

Try: http://www.bdi-usa.com/ for bearings. Never done them. These people might have the brngs., or could get them.