Argo Bearing and Seal Replacement Video

[baxter]

Upgrade of Avenger 2008's bearings to HDI; thanks to the Rock Doctor

Well RD, I want to thank you for the video. You are a wizard. I used it upgrading my 2008 Avenger 700, the mid axle, and soon one of the fronts. Two notes: You really have to get rid of the plastic around the hole, just like the Conquest video shows. Looked like I could force it in, but had to redo it with the plastic drilled out. Two, if you have a spindled axle (with grooves in it) watch out for set screw holes in the axle. I missed these and luckily saw them after the sprockets were on, but had to take out the axle (again) to reset the sprockets over these holes.
I found it's possible to screw in the set screws on the bearing without complete removal of the axel, just pound it out as far as you can, with sprockets loose, the axle just hanging at the end of the innner bearing, and you can tighten the screws. Of course for a new install, everything has to come out completely.
By the way RD thought you would like my Argo's custom 80lb thrust elec. motor rig, its raised/lowered by the winch, and turned by the foot control that normally goes on the deck of a bass boat,a handle attached to it for better control. See the home page and video for a rear shot of the "boat". Thanks again, I (we) am in your debt.

[Rock Doctor]

Hey, thanks for the comment, glad I could be of service. Donations can be sent to my wife's account here:

Thosedamnargos@moneypits.com

Hahaha, just kidding.

Thanks again, and I would like to see the elec motor rig, can you PM the link to me? I didn't get a chance to check it out before Mike nuked it.


RD

[trainguy438]

is any movement mean the bearings are bad? my bigfoot has 200 hours on it and i grease it often. it had 60 hours on it when i bought it. it seemed like the previous owner may have been slack on maintenance, but could the bearings really be bad already? the rear four tires all move just a tiny bit with no noise or grinding. i dont have bearing extensions. i really dont want to replace them if i dont have to. any thought rock doctor? If i do need parts where would i get them?

[Mike]

It is possible for bearings (or the flanges) to start wearing with low hours on them. In your case though, with you greasing them often and because you have just a little play as you described, it doesn't sound like anything to worry about. Just monitor them every time you do your regular maintenance and see if they are getting worse. If you start experiencing grinding or you can feel a "bump" in the bearing as you turn the axle by hand, then you should start thinking about replacing them before one freezes up on you. If they just start getting more and more play in them, you will want to replace them before the excessive play begins to wear out other components like sprockets, flanges, the tub, etc. Before it gets that bad though, you will probably start taking on a good bit of water around the bearings and want to replace them because of that alone.

Ov

[Rock Doctor]

The way I guage it is I pump a half dozen shots of grease into the bearing, if the axle still wiggles around, then it's beyond my comfort level and needs to be replaced. I don't think you are at that point yet.

Any Argo dealer will have parts, or most Bearing Outlets will also be able to help you. I don't have the bearing/seal #'s handy, but you should be able to do a search on it here.

RD

[trainguy438]

if i wiggle the tires up and down they move a tiny bit but not side to side. i would assume that if the bearing was bad it would move both ways? as far as taking on water i have been out for almost 6-7hrs in 2 days fishing and may have accumulated a half gallon of water. that includes a less then stellar water entry that had some water come on the hood. so she is pretty tight. thanks for the info guys and nice vid! im sure it will be a big help when i do change the bearings.

[Rock Doctor]

if i wiggle the tires up and down they move a tiny bit but not side to side. i would assume that if the bearing was bad it would move both ways? .

The only way you would get side to side movement is if you take your chains off. Otherwise the chains will prevent you from "wiggling" side to side.
Same goes for Idler Shaft Bearings.......Hard to check with the chains on, loosening the Idler chains helps, but it's still hard to do properly.


RD