bearing change
 

i don't have a shop manual any would like any advice or tips on changing my rear bearings

bearing change
 

I am not sure what type of machine you have. My recent bearing changes on my AC 400 went very smooth. I was able to do all 4 tires in less than an hour. It is FIS machine so there was no solid rear axle. My procedures follows:

1) Jack up ATV place on jack stands.
2) remove rear tires.
3) remove axle pin.
4) Apply parking brakes and loosen axle nut. Brakes should keep tire from spinning if using an impact wrench.
5) Release parking brake and remove the brake caliper. Hold it up out of the way with bunjee cord do not let it hang.
6) Unbolt and remove the shock.
7) Unbolt Upper and lower a-arms from knuckle. Lower one drops out of the way hold upper one up with binjee cord.
8) Remove the axle nut, account for washer, if present, pull out and down on knuckle while holding axle shaft in place.

I then took the knuckle to my work bench and put in a vice.
1) Used a regular screw driver carefully pry out the inner and outter seal. Seals may be reused if needed. I save the good ones for use later in a pinch but replace them as they are about $4ea.
2) Remove any retaining ring if present.
3) Use a 2" ball (for towing a trailer) to drive out the old bearings and race. A 2" ball fit my perfectly yours may differ.
4) Once bearing is removes I clean the knuckle with break parts cleaner and a wire brush.

To install new bearings either have them pressed in or use the old bearing race to drive the new bearing in. to make this easier put the new bearing inthe freezer for about 1-2hrs prior to installation (causes it to shrink slightly) and grease the knucke houseing to make new bearing installation easier.

Once it is inslalled reverse the steps above to put the knuckle back on.

For a solid rear axle it would be different. But putting the new bearings in the freezer for a couple hours prior to installation, and using the correctly sized ball hitch to drive out old bearing race are very helpful tricks for an FIS. My directions may vary slightly depending on the model as there may be special "brand specific" retaining clips/rings I did not mention.

SJ