Originally Posted by moos-a-boo
Add my 2 cents to Derek's, it's been a great upgrade. Only one issue so far, and that was my fault. I did not tighten up the setscrews enough on one mid axle, and the axle shaft spun in the Outer Bearings "Inner Race". So, of course, by the time I noticed it, the hardened race had worn into the axle shaft a bit. It's not too bad, but I had to dimple the shaft to sink the setscrews into it a bit to correct the problem. This particular bearing is also now a bit loose in the carriers, which NONE of the others are, so I attribute this to the backed off setscrews as well. We spent about 8 weeks out at our remote cabin this summer, and used the Argo every day. I don't appear to have much, if any leakage. ALL bearings are still "solid as a rock". The only "Con" I can think of right now is to do with the bolts I used on the install. As mentioned I had to use regular "hex" head bolts instead of the old Carrage bolts, which means that I have to hold both the bolt and the nut to tighten/loosen. That's a bit of a PITA, but not impossible. As for hours on the bearings........this is a guess, but I will say 120-150hrs with some seriously heavy loads. All winter was spent on tracks, again with some heavy loads. I ended up having to change my chains this fall, which is a full yr earlier than I thought I would have had to do them. This was, in my opinion, due to the amount of time I spent on the tracks in the winter.
So, in conclusion, I will say that I love the new bearing configurations and will be converting my daughters Conquest over at some point. It sees much less use than mine, so will probably change them out through attrition.
Without a doubt, I would take all the old style bearing parts back and exchange for the new HDI upgrade. One thing though, you will either have to replace your Bearing Extensions in the front and rear axles, OR, have yours machined out to accept the new Inner Bearing Carrier ( The 2001 Bearing Extensions have the Inner Bearing Carrier "built in". 2002's and up need to have an Inner Bearing Carrier installed behind the Bearing, same as a Mid Axle. You can easily check this by looking at your assembled bearing extension. If you can see the edge of 2 gaskets in the assembly, you have the newer extensions, if you can see one gasket edge, you have the older style extensions)
What I would do to that Conquest????
Start with the Trans, is it High, Med or Low geared? Look at the number stamped on the top of the trans, does it end with HU, MU, or GU? (High, Med, Low gearing). Not a lot you can do about it, but I would like to see GU (Low Geared). (MU is good too, but IMHO, HU is too high geared)
Feel the Clutch Faces, with those low hrs, I would expect them to be fine, but improper operation can cause premature wear of the faces. If they are smooth, or just have a bit of wear, they are fine, if you can feel ridges/bumps, keep in mind that it will not operate to its fullest capabilities. (I've seen some pretty bad ones with up to about 1/8" worn off the faces and some bad transition bumps)
I would shim the Primary spring with a spacer about 5/32" thick (Increases Engagement RPM a bit and slows down the rate of Upshift).
I would also tighten the Secondary Spring a notch or two (Increases the rate of Downshift) (Your preferance and riding conditions will dictate this)
Definatly upgrade the Bearings
24" Frontier Tires, OR, Adair Tracks depending on what you want ( I want one of each, but have not scraped together cash for the tracks yet)
Front Pushbar/Winch Guard and Rear Rack are a MUST (weld single "chain links" on rack, under the top rail, as "tiedown points").
I very much like the 27hp Kawi engine in my Conquest (Light mods required to Mounting Plate). It does NOT make the Argo much faster, but the increased HP is very nice.
BLOCK OFF the Warm Air Intake on the Air Filter Housing. It helps a little.
ALWAYS carry some Gasline Anti-freeze, and a bit of ATF with you. If you ever have to ( and you will) use old fuel, add some of each to your gas tank, it will keep your valves from sticking and causing your Pushrods to bend. It happens, they DON'T like old fuel.
Put a small tool box together, and ONLY use those tools to work on your machine (don't forget a small extension Magnet). Eventually, you will have every tool you need to do most repaires in one little box.
Spare parts, you should carry the basics with you: Bearings, seals, gaskets, master links, Brake kit, Tappet Cover Gasket, Carb Springs/bushings, hand cleaner, Plug Kit, Air Comp, Either, ect. "Murphy's Law says that if you have parts with you, you probably won't need them"
I despise the stock battery location, moved mine to the back rack.
Get into the habit of flicking your trans into reverse first, then into Low or High, this will help reduce trans grinding. Even if your trans does NOT grind going into gear right now, it will under some conditions, example: running in colder temps than normal can cause an increase in idle RPM.
If you have a windshield, put glass in it, or take it off. Don't use Lexan or Plexi, both will scratch very easy and very fast.
Lean away from "Half-links", have one just in case, but if your chains are stretched enough to cut a link out and fit a half link, the chains are in need of replacing.
Hope that's enough for now
RD
Oh ya, welcome to the site
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