One of my front hubs is not locking up. It's a 2001 Sportsman 500. In 4 wheel drive the lrft front wheel turns but the right one does not. I have a service manual and I took the hub apart. All seems well. How do I check the electro magnet? My question is what normally goes wrong here?

FEEL FREE TO E MAIL ME.

Joe B

 

check the wire running to the hub

 

If you have the hub apart turn on the key and flip on the AWD switch and see if the armature plate sticks to the magnet. Also check that the armature plate is not distorted........

 

Here's what happened. I was up in Quebec on a four wheeling trip. About 10 miles from my truck on the last day the right front wheel made some noises. When I got back to camp ( in NY), I took the right front hub apart. I admit that I never checked the hub for oil, and it ran low. The inner wheel bearing was bad, but not to the point that anything turned blue. All the other components looked OK. I ordered new bearings, races, and a seal. When I assembled it I noticed that the hub does not lock up. I can't be sure if it worked for the last few rides because I use 4WD so seldom it could have been not engaging for a while. Any way I disassembled it again and was wondering how to go about checking it. Does the wire from the hub plug in somewhere up near the speedo head?

 

Make sure the tabs on the armature plate line up with the groves in the Hilliard clutch because if not you won't get engagement...

 

I would bet $$$$$$$$ that it was, but can't say for 100% sure. I did notice the 3 tabs on the plate and the 3 indents on the clutch. I replaced the garter spring after inspecting all of the rollers. Is it true that with the key on, in gear, and the AWD drive switch on that the plate should be magnetized by the coil? I thought that the front drive only engaged after the rear wheels were spinning. I know that the AWD will only engage if the speedo senses 4 MPH movement. I know this because I rolled my machine last year and removed the headlamp and the speedo and the AWD would not engage at all until I replaced them ( VERY EXPENSIVE)

 

With the key on ( power) and the AWD switch on power will flow to the electromagnet. Then its just a matter of seeing if the armature plate, screw driver or anything metal is drawn to it. And yes make sure the tabs line up with the notches on the Hilliard clutch. Also you said you changed the garter spring....This is also important... if the garter spring is stretched at all you won't get engagement and the rollers could slide out of place and cause unwanted engagement. Check these things out and get back to us....

 

I read the manual and did not stretch the garter spring. I will check for magnetism at the plate. Unfortunately I can't do so until next weekend since the bike is 300 miles away.

Next question, the front drive shaft ( fron the case to the diff ) has a bad u-joint. How does the shaft come out? do I need to remove the front diff?

 

There is a roll pin in the yoke that goes through the spline you have to knock it out then pull on the axle it should come right off.....[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

 

I assume that this pin is on the rear most part of the shaft at the output from the transmission.