I bought new bearings and seals for my axle carrier,is there any trick to getting the old bearings out? I could probably manage but i dont want to damage the carrier beating it mercelessly with a hammer and screw driver or something

 

i bet like 58 people know this ---its funny how a "wich quad is faster" or "wich quad would win in a drag race" question gets like a million replies,and a serious technical question like mine gets no replies. I cant even see if my quad is faster than my neighbors raptor,cause my rear bearings are shot and i cant get the old ones out!

 

The way I have always found easiest was to cut them out. Knock out the inner race and the bearings so all you are left with is the outer race. Then if you have a Dremel tool get a tungsten carbide cutter for it. Then just start grinding away until you are completly through, be patient it could take 15 to 30min's. Keep a close check and try not to go to much into the carrier but don't fret if you do as it will not hurt anything. Once you have a cut all the way through the race should come out pretty easily. If you have access to an air die grinder try to find a tungsten bit for it. They are harder to find though I got mine from work, but it will chew through that race much quicker. Once you have your old bearing out be sure to freeze your new one overnight, it helps it go in easier once you are ready to install it. Hope this helps, I was like you once and was like how the heck am I supposed to get these out. I have installed several and this has always worked for me and is pretty easy. Good luck!

 

I have always used a round ended long punch and rubber mallet. Clean the housing out real good, apply some good water proof grease inside, slip your new bearings in, pound the seals in with a flat piece of wood. Piece of cake, shouldn't take you much more than an hour or so, pending everything comes off smooth.
The axle slides out to the right side when standing behind the bike(remove sprocket and slide out to right), it has a sleeve attach to the axle itself so don't try pound it the other direction. Becareful not to round your axle nuts, try using a couple fairly large pipe wrenches on them. Double check your hubs nuts are tight enough once you reassembly everything, no sense in ruining a hub.

Oh yeah, make sure you align the housing and tighten the chain correctly or you'll be installing bearings again fairly soon.

 

punch and hammer

 

long chisel and a hammer.

and i would only use the cut the bearing out method only as a last resort. and if the bearings are totally wasted.

 

So you guys replace the bearings in the factory carrier? I need bearings in my Zilla and was ready to buy a billet carrier.
I'm sure replacing bearings and seals is alot cheaper.

 

i just replaced the bearings in my zilla. its way cheaper. 60 for the bearings compared to around 200 to 250 for a carrier. unless the carrier is crap, then you have to spend more.

 

So if the bearings slide in/out of the carrier without much of a hammer at all (tapping is all it took)... I might need a new carrier? What about a Lonestar swingarm? Any opinions or better options? The stock swingarm has been welded up several times. Bought it used last spring.

 

i had to beat the daylights out of mine to get the bearings out,they were totaly wasted(bearings) about the swingarm. if your swingarm is still sturdy i would look for a new carrier on ebay. there are cheaper swingarms than the lonestar. like the burghard i think is like 300 less