[Jeepwm69]

I've been pulling down a couple of 300 rear ends to rebuild. I have one that has good teeth on the ring and pinion, but there is some wear on the pinion gear where it rides in the needle bearing, which results is slack.

The Boss Bearing rebuild kit came sith a "pinion repair sleeve" and apparently you machine down the pinion and slide the sleeve in place.

Anyone do this, and if so, how did you do it? I'm guessing I'll need a lathe, but was wondering if there's a ******* way that would work.

https://www.thebigbearingstore.com/ir10x14x16-honda-repair-sleeve/

 

[shadetree]

never tried them. i'm a guy who would just install a new pinion gear...lol. but your correct, you will need a lathe to turn it down. i'm sure you could grind or sand it down , but it will never be centered.

 

[wheelsquad]

Seems like a big cost saver for you to install the sleeve. But that steel is probably way too hard for you to ******* turn it down. Looks like a super quick job for someone with a lathe though. I'd call up local machine shop and I'd bet you'll be running in no time for not much $$

 

[shadetree]

Seems like a big cost saver for you to install the sleeve. But that steel is probably way too hard for you to ******* turn it down. Looks like a super quick job for someone with a lathe though. I'd call up local machine shop and I'd bet you'll be running in no time for not much $$

i'd be willing to bet, any machine shop will charge him dang near what a new pinion bearing would cost to turn his old pinion down, will keep an eye on this thread.

 

[Jeepwm69]

This thing goes on the end of the actual pinion gear.

It's on OEM pinion gear. Not sure if the aftermarket new ones are all that great quality wise, but I have a feeling that getting it turned down would be prohibitively expensive.

I think trying to bubba it won't end well, but sometimes ******** come up with ingenious ways to fix things.

I thought it was interesting that the bearing kit included the sleeve.

 

[retro]

I have done a lot of those types of shaft resizing and bearing journal repairs over the years. In fact, I am working on a needle bearing inner raceway repair on a knackered chainsaw crankshaft right now.

Those inner needle bearing rings like you linked are the cheapest and easiest way to get a better than OEM bearing raceway put on any shaft. They do require a machinist with a lathe generally (unless you are oversizing a journal), but its a quick and easy job so costs are usually cheap. If you know of a local retired machinist with his own shop you might get the job done for less than $20 out the door.

A machinist can also resize the outer diameter of those inner rings using a crankshaft grinder or similar, so you can fit common sized needle bearings on odd-sized shafts. Combining inner ring sizing options with drawn cup bearing sizing options sometimes allows you to fit stuff where they weren't intended (custom parts swaps) or repair obsolete shafts with NLA proprietary bearing sizes.

 

[fishfiles]

The site you linked is interesting , they have all kinds of bearings and seals for atv's , only thing is what about quality ------- would guess if you were careful , you could grind the shaft down and apply some of that race retainer stuff when you drive the repair sleeve on ---- a speedy sleeve for the rear drive shaft where the seal rides would be nice to find

 

[machinecrook]

I got my pinion turned down on a lathe to install that sleeve and it works great. Took the guy about 5 minutes tops and everything was ready. If I remember right he charged me 10$.

 

[wheelsquad]

but I have a feeling that getting it turned down would be prohibitively expensive.

How much can you get just a new OEM pinion for?

Like others have said, find the right guy and this is an incredibly quick and easy machining operation. But there are always the big shops that would not want to bother with you and not do anything for under $60.

 

[fishfiles]

being a new OEM pinion is no longer available , and when it was you had to buy the ring and pinion as a set , you couldn't buy just the pinion , it would make being able to make a repair worth more

 

[LBZ_Duramax]

For $125 you can get the kit that includes ring/pinion, lock nut tool, shims and bearings. This isn't the welded gear either, uses the splined gear that is like OEM. Can't beat it for the price. Around here the machine shops are busy and they would want $60 min to mess with it. I might would chuck it in a drill and see if I could remove enough material to heat the sleeve up and tap it on like that. If it doesn't work what have you lost?

 

[Jeepwm69]

For $125 you can get the kit that includes ring/pinion, lock nut tool, shims and bearings. This isn't the welded gear either, uses the splined gear that is like OEM. Can't beat it for the price. Around here the machine shops are busy and they would want $60 min to mess with it. I might would chuck it in a drill and see if I could remove enough material to heat the sleeve up and tap it on like that. If it doesn't work what have you lost?

Where can I get that kit? The ones I've seen in that price range have all been the welded gears.

I have a second diff torn down now and I don't think the pinion in it can be used...lol

I live in BFE so the only "machine shop" here is basically a welder. I'll nose around and see what I can find. I know I can just buy a new ring/pinion much easier, I just like to fix things if possible, even if it sometimes isn't the most cost effective way of doing things.

 

[Jeepwm69]

The site you linked is interesting , they have all kinds of bearings and seals for atv's , only thing is what about quality ------- would guess if you were careful , you could grind the shaft down and apply some of that race retainer stuff when you drive the repair sleeve on ---- a speedy sleeve for the rear drive shaft where the seal rides would be nice to find

Yeah I found that site interesting. I have one rebuild kit for a rear diff and a bunch of crap fell off my bench last night and wouldn't you know the new needle bearing is nowhere to be found. I'm sure it rolled somewhere and with all the junk I have piled up everywhere I couldn't find it. Spent a half hour looking for it with no luck.

So that place has a $5 needle bearing for the 300 pinion gear. I'll get a couple of oddball bearings from them and see how they look.

Interestingly enough, the place is in Memphis, less than an hour away from me.

 

[Jeepwm69]

Ordered some 350D rear wheel bearings and a 300 pinion needle bearing.

I'll report back on what they look like, but I'm no bearing expert so not sure what I should be specifically looking for.

I was going to bolt this 350D rear right in on the last 300 I bought, but I've decided to go through it first before I install it. There's a little bit of play in the pinion, and after looking at what happens to the ring and pinion once things get sloppy I'm going to go ahead and put all new bearings and seals in this rear end so it will last.

 

[retro]

They don't say where those bearings come from or which brands they sell. Generally china knockoff bearings will be unmarked with no part number found on the races, while major manufacturers generally include the bearing part number on one side of the inner race along with the company name or logo. I see they have bearing & seal kits for the 250/350 rear diffs priced around $31... thats pretty darn cheap!
https://www.thebigbearingstore.com/atv-differential-kits/?sort=priceasc&page=2

 

[Jeepwm69]

Yep! I'll report back on the bearings I ordered. They've already shipped

 

[Jeepwm69]

For $125 you can get the kit that includes ring/pinion, lock nut tool, shims and bearings. This isn't the welded gear either, uses the splined gear that is like OEM. Can't beat it for the price. Around here the machine shops are busy and they would want $60 min to mess with it. I might would chuck it in a drill and see if I could remove enough material to heat the sleeve up and tap it on like that. If it doesn't work what have you lost?

Found it, Caltric kit. They decent?

The parts guy I've started using for aftermarket stuff sells wide open, which are $200 but include the drum bearings and seals too

 

[shadetree]

For $125 you can get the kit that includes ring/pinion, lock nut tool, shims and bearings. This isn't the welded gear either, uses the splined gear that is like OEM. Can't beat it for the price. Around here the machine shops are busy and they would want $60 min to mess with it. I might would chuck it in a drill and see if I could remove enough material to heat the sleeve up and tap it on like that. If it doesn't work what have you lost?

Found it, Caltric kit. They decent?

The parts guy I've started using for aftermarket stuff sells wide open, which are $200 but include the drum bearings and seals too

caltric sells a lot of ele parts on ebay, I've purchased from them once..AND THAT WAS ENOUGH..LOL. needless to say..their products are junk as far as i'm concerned..lol.

 

[fishfiles]

Yesterday I was talking with a guy that has a atv shop , he was telling me about e-mails he has gotten recently , parts are going out of production and the no longer available list is growing for OEM parts for the early model , 300, 350 and 250's , from what I remember of the list 1st gen 300's are getting hit hard , no more mud flaps , no more cv-shafts and that one includes after market , no more CDI's , no more plastics , no more carbs , and many other parts are being dropped and when in stock is depleted there will be no more ----------- we soon will have no choice but after market , used or if you are really lucky new old stock

 

[SamUK]

Ordered some 350D rear wheel bearings and a 300 pinion needle bearing.

I'll report back on what they look like, but I'm no bearing expert so not sure what I should be specifically looking for.

I was going to bolt this 350D rear right in on the last 300 I bought, but I've decided to go through it first before I install it. There's a little bit of play in the pinion, and after looking at what happens to the ring and pinion once things get sloppy I'm going to go ahead and put all new bearings and seals in this rear end so it will last.

Would be wise to measure the bearings IMO and keep a note somewhere. I did promise bearing sizes some time back for the rear end, apologies for not getting back to you with those. My Dad has been working through a back log of work recently so hasn’t had time to get my rear end seem to.