Has anyone rebuilt the rear differential on a Timberwolf, or any ATV?
I have a factory manual and a Clymer. The Clymer says not to bother reparing the rear diff because of all the tools needed.
My rear diff was full of mud and grease (horrible maintenance by previous owners), and the ring and pinion are both rusted, worn, and just shot, really. I can't belive it pulled and rode as well as it did...All of the bearings and seals in the rear diff are bad also. Basically, the only good parts of the diff are the main 2 pices of the case...

The rest of the atv is is pretty decent shape. It runs fine/strong, just needs valve guides or a top end because of some smoke and a carb rebuild. I'd do all this anyway because of the obvious lack of maint and the age, but the rear diff suprised me a bit. I thought it just needed bearings.

I can get a new ring and pinion set, and all the seals and bearings for around $400, from what I'm seeing online. A new differnetial from Yamaha is $650-$700, and I'm assuming it would alsready have the correct backlash set and be ready to bolt on.

Is it worth the trouble to rebuild it, or is it best to just buy a whole new unit?

 

i think only tools you would need is a bearing puller/press and take ur time the reason it says special tools is dial indicator ,drag gauge and stuff for checking the backlash. as long as every thing is torqed right and you have the right gear mesh pattern in the marking compout you should be good to go.

 

Just out of curiosity can you order diffrent gear ratios? Where did you find an aftermarket ring and pinion? I have always wondered if you can change the ratios in the wolverines thats why.

 

I don't think you can get different gear ratios, and I wish I could find an aftermarket ring and pinion. The $400 is for a Yamaha Ring and pinion and aftermarket seals and bearings-with a little leeway for shims and misc.

You can get aftermaket seals and bearings from All ***** Racing and save a lot over OEM, but you still have to buy most of the rear diff parts from Yamaha (ring seals, retainers, Ring and pinion etc).

I was just wanting to see if anyone had actually done it and could say "yes, do it" or "no, I ended up having to get it done at the shop anyway because of....." or something.

I do all the work on my bike- engine, forks, shock, trans, re-spoking of wheels etc- but I've never messed with an ATV or auto differential. I know the ones on a car or truck are easy to screw up if not set up correctly.

It looks simple enough, but...