I've removed my front wheel and axle nut on my '03 Kodiak 450. there is a tie-rod end, and an upper and lower balljoint attached to the knuckle. according to the Yamaha manual, i need a special tool/press to remove the ball joints, and to put them back in. I can't believe this is the way all of you guys have done it!

Any tricks to remove AND re-attach the ball joints and tie rod?? I assume this MUST be done to get the knuckle off and drive out the old bearings. the front bearing is obviously cooked and sloppy. surprised the wheel never fell off!!

do the rears last longer being set in so much further on the axle shaft?

oh, does anyone know the bearing numbers for these? or is there an aftermarket kit? I've heard some folks mention "Pivot" for around $50 with seals, etc.. I assume that's for both sides.

thanks for your help.

 

First check out a machine shop who does welding , a good welder could prefab about any kind of so called special tool for about anytype job you could thing of, or at least half adozen machine shop's in my area can ! 20 + years as a small engine tech i've saved thousand's on these so called special tool's and special part's that all the big factory dealer's try to get an arm and a leg or 2 for something i could build myself to comercial grade that last's forever with proper servicing. Second never assume with it come's to parts on motorcycles,quads and even lawn and garden machine's , the prices they charge for parts you'd think thet were made of gold...............williebee

 

I would think you could use a pickle fork to remove those. Most AutoZones and PepBoys have tool loaner programs. You go to the store, borrow the tool, they put it on your credit card and when you're done, refund the money. I've used it many times and it's a great service.

 

I've got a ball-joint & tie-rod seperator. I guess i was wondering about re-attaching. can i just torque it on, and it'll suck it down the taper tight enough??

 

Oh, gotcha....I misread.

That I'm not sure of.

 

I don't think that would work, because i had a bad cv boot on a 93' suzuki 300 KQ i bought the new boot kit from local suzuki dealer highest price of all the dealer in my town $45.95 + tax for one rubber boot 2 clamps and a tube of greese for the boot. when i started the job, dealer said it was a breeze to replace, but i had to remove the wheel remove tierod then the cv from the axle, after that it looked like it would be a breeze to reinstall ! right? well when got to tierod things got hinky, tierod didn't want to lineup going back in the slot. I started late thinking it wouldn't take long for a breeze ! Well it got dark, so i stopped for the night and got up early next morning light and starting on it again. I ended up putting quad on jackstand's all 4 wheels, then using a small hydrolic jack with wheel on i managed to manipulate the A-Arm enought and a woodworking barclamp and i was able to press it in on the first try ! And it really was a breeze compared to what the dealer's labor would've been. How on your Yamaha Kodiac it might be alot easier than the suzuki , and on the KQ it has the 4 wheel independent suspension. But i think my cousin's Kodiac 450 4x4 was 4 wheel independent on his. It shouldn't to hard a job even without the press even if auto zone doesn't a loaner tool that would work on your Quad ! Anyhow the first time repair job's on anthing is easier after the first ! good luck and GOD Bless............williebee

 

there's a lot of movement on the steering knuckle, so i'm hoping tie-rod alignment shouldn't be too much of an issue. it's getting the balljoints "pressed" in correctly....or tightening correctly that I don't want to screw up. I read other posts on this topic and guys said to be careful about getting the balljoints in properly or they'd wear oblong in the steering knuckle hole they go thru. UNFORTUNATELY, the same guys that posted the warning, didn't specify how they made sure it was done right!

that's EXPENSIVE for a CV boot. I usually just re& re the whole shaft, that way I don't have to rebuild the CV, and I get a rebuilt inner and outer by a guy who does 100s every day, as opposed to me doing it once every 2 years.

 

I didn't have to rebuild the CV it was just the rubberboot that hold's in the lub grease and the two cheap hose clamp's that hold's the boot to the cv joint shaft rod's that cost the $49.99 + tax, but you're right about buying rebuilt cv asemblies instead of your having to do it yourself every two year's ! But my KQ was new when this happened to me and my replacement of the one boot was caused by a tear in the rumber from an idiot i was letting ride my KQ he was tail gateing Me all day ! I was leading the way on my old 86'Honda TRX 350 Foreman fulltime 4x4, the one with the old type heavy straight axle front end. I coundn't count the times he ram'ed into the back of me when i had to make a sudden stop , i kept telling his to not ride so close and he'd stop it was a while; then all of a sudden bang into me again ! I was bulldozing a new trail when a small sapling snapped back and the idiot took a direct hit to the cv boot ouch that cost me!! If he hadn't been tail gatinein' the sapling would've had time to spring back up enough for the KQ just push right over it like i did ! The 93' KQ had a good guard on the front, but it only covered the center leaving about a foot between the wheel's unprotected ! It's starting to come a storm, i can hear some loud thunder and when you can here thunder you're close for lightling strikes i'm gonna shut this thing down, i'll get back with you on the subjust of Linning those ball joint's up to slip in those slot's later if you haven't got done untill then........GOD Bless You...............williebee !

 

thanks! the tailgaters are usually really novice too.

 

hey ned i called my cousin early this morning he said his kodiak was an 03' 450 just like yours he messed up his bearing riding in the swamp's near his home 2 times the first time he took it the the dealer for the repairs the second time he let his brother - in - law talk him into letting him do the job, well he said it was a big mistake on his part. Brother - in - law didn't think he would need special tools to press in the ball joint's. And what you were told about not seating them in their slots were true. Turns out Brother - in - law got them in the slots or so he thought he did untill he tried screwing in the bolts with alot of jerking an shaking he got one bolt treaded in good. But he didn't wait untill he could get the other started before tighting the first one, big mistake he couldn't get the second bolt lined enough for the treads started because theres a slot in the ball joint rod. so he takes a small drill bit and drills through the hole the bolt goes in and stops the drill just before he got to the treaded side the bolt screws in. After this the bolt goes in hole and treads line up, he then tightened the bolt up to torque spec. after he's finished he puts evrything back togther wheel back on and starts shaking it up down an side to side. Now everything looks good to go back to the marshes and swamp land. Cousin told me it felt fine and kept riding but after about three weeks he starts to feel like something is loose when he guns it on solid pack ground and when he brakes suddenly. It gets worse with every ride, finally jacks it up to see if any bolts or locknuts are loose, everything is tight but there is loose play in the bottom ball joint! He takes it to the dealer leeves it there the next day he gets call from dealer bad ball joint and knuckle had to be replaced. Cost him three times what bearing replacement was the first time he had them done by dealer ! If his brother - in - law hadn't tightened the first bolt before getting both started taking the treads evenly it might not have turned out bad ! But i've seen this happen on a waterpump i let my nefew install on my pickup all because i was busy working on some lawn mowers instead of watching him work on my truck. He didn't get all the bolts started before snugging up just one bolt he couldn't get the brace for the steering pump to line up on the last two bolts. And when he lost his cool he tried to forse one in snapping the cast alumium brace, just cracked the center bolt hole. He had to remove everything but the water pump then drive 40 miles to a welding shop who had an aluminum welder, and to beat it all i told him to take it to a shop i knew of just 6 miles away. He said but the shop i wanted him to take it to charged 40.00 an hour and that was minimum charge. He was gone all day and when he finally got back, he had driven the 40 miles and waited half the day on his man who took the day off. so he had to rush back to the shop i told him to take it to in the first place pay the 40.00 then rush across town to pick up his wife from work got dark before he could finish the job that would've taken me about an hour to do myself and i'm slow and old ! Sorry for the long post, i should've just told you if you couldn't get joint's in their slot's and all bolt's started it would be best to just take it to the dealer you trust the most !...........................again sorry for the novel instead of the movie !..................willieebee