Argo Avenger issues

[Rock Doctor]

OK, So a buddy of mine has an Avenger, I think it's a 2004 model.
We made a plan to go fishing to a remote lake (we both have cabins there), he calls me up the night before we have to go..........
Second axle from the front on the right side piled up the outer bearing, and he needs to borrow some parts from me, Bearing, seals, and bearing housing all need to be replaced.......No Problem, come get the parts, I have them here.
We leave on friday, and are making the 10 mile trip to the lake.........Half way there, he said that the machine started to make noises????? (he never told me till we made it to the lake). I start looking around the drive train, and find the "noise maker". The inner right idler shaft bearing piled up, and this allowed the idler shaft to rise up and grind on the brake rotor (big pile of metal shavings under the rotor)........GREAT.
Long weekend, and we are miles out in the bush..............
I get an idea, (some of you might remember that I had a problem out at this lake this winter, I ended up stealing parts from another friends Argo that broke down out there last summer............It was still out there). I tear the Avenger apart, then I tear an axle out of the other Argo that was out there, to get an outer bearing (same as an idler shaft brng). I rebuild the Avenger with stolen parts, and all was good. Test drove the Avenger, and could not find any other problems.
The next day Carl was driving from his cabin to mine, hit a little hole, and piled up the transmition on the Avenger. Locked in low range, and making rather loud CRUNCHING noises. GREAT. I fidled with it, till I got it to come out of gear, and managed to get it into reverse. Drove it to a spot where we could air lift it out to the trucks (as Carl wanted to do). We talked about it the next morning, and I convinced him to let me tear the trany out, I figured I could save him a Chopper Bill by hauling the trans out for him. 45 minutes later I had his trans sitting in my Conquest ready to go

On the bright side, My Conquest worked flawlessly with the 24" Frontier tires. Carl was trying everything he could think of to get me stuck on the way in. Turned out that he got me stuck once on the trail, but he got stuck twice doing it.
There was lots of laughs and excitement over the weekend, and got some good vids. Will post some of the trip later, when I can.

RD

[chapy]

That is some bad luck!! It seems there are alot of avenger problems on here the past few weeks. I hope The isn't any bad weeks for the bigfoots.

Seth

[artist1018]

Sounds like the Conquest owners, like me & you R.D., have a better built machine!?! Perhaps ODG should consider putting them back in thier fold!!

[m350]

Yeah,,whats up with these Avengers ?,,,That other ARGO that was left out there sure has come in handy for ya RD,,,Good thing it was still there! And sounds like you had an adventerous weekend with the Good old Conquest.

[xrover]

As one who has experience drivetrain problems it appears to be centered around the tensioners. Argo changed them sometime in 2006 as they were not providing enough adjustment. My right rear chain was always very tight (could not flex the top at all) until this was done. This would be a lot of stress on the drivetrain and impact the bearings and axles. In my case, with the track, I was ripping off axles. ODG authorized the local dealer to do a complete swap out on all axles, bearings and tensioners. Since that was done a few months back we have not had any issues and the chains carry the required amount of slack.
Perhaps the tension in rock doctors case caused the input shaft on the tranny to not run true causing internal damage?
Good luck with your fix.

[cory_Alaska]

I am curious to see what you come up with. I have a buddy with an 05 avenger and he is not in any shape financially right now to be replacing major parts on his. He is pretty much fully disabled and does not have a job any longer. Kind of a bad situation to own a money pit, but it is the only way he can get out in the bush. I am starting to appreciate my conquest more already! Sounds like you had a good time overall though and as I have said many times in my short Argo ownership. Always and adventure!

[mightymaxIV]

Rock Doc TIRES

Doc I am happy to hear that your tires are working out so well, and sorry that your friend is having so many problems with his Avenger. I am still waiting for you to give us a report on how your argo swims with 8 frontier tires.

[Rock Doctor]

Sounds like the Conquest owners, like me & you R.D., have a better built machine!?! Perhaps ODG should consider putting them back in thier fold!!

I've always wanted an Avenger, but I was taught to NEVER purchase a machine that is "New" on the market. "Give 'em a few yrs to work the bugs out" That's what dear old Dad used to say. The more I help others with thier Avengers, The more I like my Conquest.

Yeah,,whats up with these Avengers ?,,,That other ARGO that was left out there sure has come in handy for ya RD,,,Good thing it was still there! And sounds like you had an adventerous weekend with the Good old Conquest.

Out of all the Argo's I have worked on, this Avenger is the first one to throw a bearing at under 250 hrs (this one only has 153hrs on it). It has never been on tracks, or abused in any way (that I know of). I'm really thinking that ODG should send me a couple machines each yr to TEST RUN them before they put them on the market. I wonder how I could arainge something like that?

As one who has experience drivetrain problems it appears to be centered around the tensioners. Argo changed them sometime in 2006 as they were not providing enough adjustment. My right rear chain was always very tight (could not flex the top at all) until this was done. This would be a lot of stress on the drivetrain and impact the bearings and axles. In my case, with the track, I was ripping off axles. ODG authorized the local dealer to do a complete swap out on all axles, bearings and tensioners. Since that was done a few months back we have not had any issues and the chains carry the required amount of slack.
Perhaps the tension in rock doctors case caused the input shaft on the tranny to not run true causing internal damage?
Good luck with your fix.

This is worth looking into. I would like to note that the inner Idler shaft brng on the other side is also on it's way out (on this machine). Also, when I reassembled everything the Idler chain was very tight on the rebuilt side, even though the tensoners were as loose as they would go. Thanks for the tip, I will mention it to the owner.

[Rock Doctor]

I am curious to see what you come up with. I have a buddy with an 05 avenger and he is not in any shape financially right now to be replacing major parts on his. He is pretty much fully disabled and does not have a job any longer. Kind of a bad situation to own a money pit, but it is the only way he can get out in the bush. I am starting to appreciate my conquest more already! Sounds like you had a good time overall though and as I have said many times in my short Argo ownership. Always and adventure!

Don't ever get rid of your Conquest Cory, there will NEVER be anything wrong with it that CAN'T be fixed. IMHO
I will let you know if anything comes of this, but keep in mind that it's not my machine, and I might not hear all the details.

Doc I am happy to hear that your tires are working out so well, and sorry that your friend is having so many problems with his Avenger. I am still waiting for you to give us a report on how your argo swims with 8 frontier tires.

My Friend, You would NOT believe how well these tires swim on a Conquest. Maybe it has something to do with how close they are mounted togeather. I don't know, but these things swim incredibly well. I drove into a creek by my cabin, and swam UPSTREAM, INTO THE WIND. I was leaving a WAKE behind me. Now, I won't be pulling any waterskiers, but I will recomend them to anyone that wants to hear my opinion.
I will be putting a set on my 6x6 as soon as the "peti-coat government" releases the funds to me

[bearclaw46]

Rock Doc & Cory,

Who would leave a whole Argo out in the Bush?? Glad to hear you like those Frontier tires. I assume they're the same tires as I have on my 07 Frontier. I'm headed out for some slop this weekend. Snow's been melting and it's plenty muddy up where I'm headed. I'm sure my Argo will be up to the challenge. My buddy just bought a new 08 Avenger and has had it out last weekend. He had a good time and it performed flawlessly.

Cory, did you ever get your Conquest fixed?? How bout the Voltage?? Ever figure that one out??

Hope to post some pics here next week.

Dennis

[cory_Alaska]

Cory, did you ever get your Conquest fixed?? How bout the Voltage?? Ever figure that one out??

Hope to post some pics here next week.

Dennis

Not yet. It is tore apart further than it was last time I posted. I have parts on the way and should be here this weekend or mid next week at the latest. I went ahead and ordered the alternator kit for it to just be done with it. I have winch and some extra lights so I think the alternator was probably a good investment. I should be back in action weekend after next.

Cory

[bostatv]

Good morning RD, Sounds like you have some great adventures out in the bush country which makes an Argo well wouth its money. Yes, there have been lower undercarrage problems with the Avengers since they were introduced in 2004, especially with chains bearings and axles. The change in the tensioners have helped somewhat by making the steps courser and not allowing the tensioner to pop up quite so fast when the machine flexes. The extra horse power coupled with the added weight of the 25 in tires and 9 in rims are the problem since the basic undercarrage is still the same as the Conquest which gave very little problem in comparrison. As far as the transmission problem, this may have been caused by getting into the machine from the right side and accidently hitting the gear shift lever with your foot which inturn can force the gears on the input shaft to force a snap ring off the shaft which holds the gears in place on the input shaft which will cause the gears to lock up sometimes doing damage to several gears. In latter years the shaft was fitted with a snap ring which was a little stronger and the shaft was milled a littlle differently to stop this from happening. Sure would like to make the trip out to that cabin with you guys someday. Have a great day
Regards
Ken Where ever we go we Argo

[Roger S]

Ken, can you answer a couple of axle questions..

Are the avenger and frontier axles the same part as bigfoot/response/conquest axles, other than the differences in the hub flange construction over the recent years.

I know the location of the machined flat for the brg set screw is different depending on brg extension or not, but am curious if in general the axles of the new machines are the same as say, the last ten years of production. IE, will they interchange.

[Rock Doctor]

Who would leave a whole Argo out in the Bush?? Glad to hear you like those Frontier tires. I assume they're the same tires as I have on my 07 Frontier. Dennis

Well, I had to leave MY Argo out in the bush for about 6 weeks last spring, with a broken front axle. High water, bad weather, and waiting on parts prevented me from rescueing it. This other one needs a new head, I have offered to HELP the guy out, but I refuse to just fix it for him, If I'm going to make a 4 hr trip out to work on his machine he can damn well help out a little. As far as I know, he has not even bothered to order any parts.
My tires are the same as yours, the only differance is that mine are mounted on the Conquest, so they are very close togeather. The front 2 will actually touch each other in some conditions.

Good morning RD, Sounds like you have some great adventures out in the bush country which makes an Argo well wouth its money. Sure would like to make the trip out to that cabin with you guys someday. Have a great day
Regards
Ken Where ever we go we Argo

Thanks for the pointers Ken, much apreciated, I will pass them along to the owner of the Avenger.

Ken, can you answer a couple of axle questions..

Are the avenger and frontier axles the same part as bigfoot/response/conquest axles, other than the differences in the hub flange construction over the recent years.

I know the location of the machined flat for the brg set screw is different depending on brg extension or not, but am curious if in general the axles of the new machines are the same as say, the last ten years of production. IE, will they interchange.

The axles are the same, and interchangable. In fact that Avenger has one of my old Conquest axles in it right now. Just before we left on this trip, Carl (Avenger owner) came to get parts to fix an axle bearing. Parts included Housing, Seals, Bearing, and Axle.



RD

[xrover]

I would say the newer axle though is stronger. It has a large flange on the back which is welded to the shaft and the hub providing more strength than the previous ones which were more pressed with single weld.
But as RockDoc has shown the alignment is the same for the sprockets and bearings.