I recently purchased a used 98 Wolvy. Before I got it, it sat for 2 years with nothing being done to it. I had the carb rebuilt, and changed the plug, oil, filter, battery and cleaned the tank and petcock. Now it runs great, but there are a couple of other problems. First, the right rear wheel is kinda loose, it feels like worn wheel bearings. My question is, are they hard to repair? Any suggestions? Also, when I make a turn, the front end makes a "Clunking" sound. CV joints? Please help me out, I am new to this. Any help will be appreciated!

 

Sounds to me like you are on the right track. Both maintenence issues that someone didn't deal with properly... fix em up and you are good to go! - Wheel bearings, I think, are only a 2 hour project or so. I'm not sure about the CV joints...

 

The rear wheel bearings aren't that hard to fix... The cv joints are a little tougher... You my want to check your front u-joints..,I have replaced mine on my 98 and never the cv axles... Let us know how it goes! If ya got any more troubles let us know... Most of these guys on here are helpful...Oh by the why welcome. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Sounds like something the Buckeyes had yesterday.

 

AKA 'trouble' ?

 

Thanks for the input everyone. I started working on the rear wheel bearings today, and I need someone to describe the process in detail. Does the rear differential have to come off? If so, how do you remove the studs where the diff bolts to the swing arm? How do you get the axle out to remove the bearings? Does it need to come out? HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

If memory serves me correctly, all the removing for the rear axle is done on the right hand side... Remove wheel, wheel hub, brake caliper, Brake Rotor, brake caliper mount. Somewhere in there, an o-ring. Don't forget about that, you should see it. After the right side is pretty much disassembled, the axle will slide out of the left side. So there is no need to remove the left side axle hub. As for the differential, there are two bearings in it. One is right behind the seal on the left side. The differential comes off pretty easy once you hae removed the 4 drive shaft housing bolts and then the 4 axle housing nuts. You can remove the Differential as a unit... no need to split it.

Good luck.

 

I thought we were just replacing wheel bearings????

 

Thanks for everyone's help. After many expletives, I now have the axle out, and the bearing and seal from the swing arm. The bearing in the differential is being a bitch. Any words of wisdom to help me out? The brakes were also toast, and the disk is fried. Anyone know of a place to find break parts cheap? Also, anyone have any clues to the "clunking" noise coming from the front end? I have heard that bigger tires will screw up the CV joints, is this true? And what is the factory tire size? I am getting a little discouraged by all of this. I paid $1000.00 for the Wolvy, and to get it rideable is going to cost me around $500.00, so a $1500.00 investment on a '98 Wolvy. Do you guys think it is worth it? Sorry for all of the questions, I'm new to all of this!

 

For a rear rotor, a Banshee rotor will work, that's what I put in mine when I fried mine too. You may want to check the front wheel bearings, the factory ones aren't sealed, and any amount of mud and water riding will take them out pretty soon. Front replacements are 6006 2RS, got mine from Dennis Kirk for about 7 bucks apiece, the Yamaha dealer wanted 24 buck apiece !! If you only end up putting 1500 dollars in a 98, I'd say that's a heck of a deal, that's probably a 2800 - 3000 dollar quad easy. Bigger tires will put more strain on the drivetrain, but only if you mud a lot. Stock tire size is front - 23x8x12, rear - 23x10x12, but there are very few tires in that size, the 489 or 489 xt , I run Maxxis, the 25 is barely over 24, so it isn't real big over stock,just wider.