I have a 2001 Sportsman 400 that I recently purchased that has a clicking sound in the front left hub. When I bought it, the person said he had replaced the left CV joint due to hitting a post and damaging the original one. This quad only has 124 hours on it and everything else is in great condition.

The clicking sound only happens occasionally when going maybe 10-15MPH, or sometimes when turning sharp. Other than that it seems fine, with the 4WD engaging as it is supposed to when the real wheels spin. After I purchased the quad, I was replacing all the fluids and when I got to the front hubs, the left front did not have any fluid when I went to drain it. I removed the hub dust cap and was amazed to find the outside wheel bearing was packing with fresh grease. I removed the bearing and cleaned it, put it together, and added new front hub fluid. I spun the wheel several times and flushed out the hub twice with new fluid to make sure I had the grease cleaned out. Maybe having that grease in there before damaged something else in the hub.

 

How tight was the castle nut? I have heard that if the castle nut was too tight it will put too much tension on the bearing and make that noise. Having too tight may also ruin the bearing, that grease doesnt help at all either, it helpes the bearing some but not the rest of the hub. You say the 4wd does work on that wheel?

 

my front end had an occassional clicking sound also. it turned out to be the brake pads. I tightend them up a bit and all better now.

 

The castle nut was pretty tight when I originally took it off. when I reinstalled it, I just put it finger tight and aligned it with the next slot to put the new cotter pin in. The 4WD seems to work fine without any problems.

I will check the brake pads tonight and see if anything looks unusual there.

 

BROWNINGEJM................has probably told you what's making the clicking sound.

The brakes are well known to do this