[79TA7.6]

I have heard a noise come from what I assumed was the drive line on my bike a couple of times but never was able to determine what it was. It would come on for a minute then be gone. Well this last week we had two bikes out in a neighbors pasture trying to get out bull and a heifer out when my father in law hit a rather large bump, throwing his hip out. Once we got back into the gravel road the same sound I had heard was back, but this time it was not going away. Not knowing what it was we found a safe place to park the bike and came back to get it with a pickup.

Yesterday was the first time I have had to look this over. At first it seemed the ujoint had gone out, but I am not sure now. The splines seems pretty loose but I have not had a chance to compare it to another bike. What we did find is that the sway bar is very sloppy. We were able to replicate the sound by pushing the rear end from one side to the other. It is loose enough that the ujoint will come in contact with the driveline housing. I am going to steam clean the entire bike since I have not done that since we first got it, then take a better look. I think my game plan is going to be completely removing the rear end and replace the bearings.

My question is this, I found two different bearings on mountain arc or something like that. One brand is All Balls bearing kit and the other is Pivot something. Are both of these of high quality, or should I look elsewhere? Also, while I have the rear end out, is there anything else I need to look closely at?

 

[fishfiles]

My opinion is All Balls is junk , Pivot Works is good stuff and comes with a warranty for a one time free replacement

 

[SamUK]

I agree with the above, AllBalls isn’t the best quality of your after a long lasting fix. I believe we have a forum sponsor that is a bearing supplier, you could try them? Other than that, OEM or take your old bearings to your local bearing supplier and have them match up with a good known brand.

 

[79TA7.6]

So I got this all tore apart and the bearing look perfect. It looks like the retainer bolt backed out a little bit allowing the driveline to shift and come in contact with the housing. I will be able to clarify this once I have it put back together. I still need to grab another driveline. It looks like the PO welded the caps to the knuckle. I will take one out of our spare parts bike.

While I have this in the shop I decided to tear the steering apart as it is real loose, can see the shaft move at the bottom. Upon taking the shaft out, I made sure not to lose any of the ball bearings, I have discovered that it looks like there are maybe 6 bearings that are missing. Looking on partzilla they are calling for 60, but that does not look right. The lower race is larger than the upper and I counted 30 in the upper. I only count 27 in the lower, but it looks like there should be at least 33. Can someone confirm how many bearings should be on the top and how many should be on the bottom? I have a parts bike that I am going to snag these from.

 

[79TA7.6]

While I have this in the shop I decided to tear the steering apart as it is real loose, can see the shaft move at the bottom. Upon taking the shaft out, I made sure not to lose any of the ball bearings, I have discovered that it looks like there are maybe 6 bearings that are missing. Looking on partzilla they are calling for 60, but that does not look right. The lower race is larger than the upper and I counted 30 in the upper. I only count 27 in the lower, but it looks like there should be at least 33. Can someone confirm how many bearings should be on the top and how many should be on the bottom? I have a parts bike that I am going to snag these from.

Looks like it should be 28 on top and 32 on bottom. Did not have my tablet with my service manual out at the shop with me. Came into the house for lunch and decided to look it up.

 

[SamUK]

New bearings will come complete as one unit or in two parts called roller taper. You won’t be needing those old balls I know that much lol.

 

[fishfiles]

Sam , I know you have had a 250A , and I have had a few , I have never changed the steering bearing , but when I looked at this print , the bearings are sold separately , did you ever change that bearing on the 250A you had ? I think he might be right


https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/honda/atv/1986/trx250-a-fourtrax-250/steering-shaft