Bad bearing question

[acharrette]

So I have a bad wheel bearing on my response. Its the left side furthest forward wheel. I e-mailed the argo dealer and orderd the parts but havnt heard back yet so assuming not in yet. (going to call in the a.m.) but if they arnt in and I still drive on the bad bearing with the wheel flopping around how bad of an idea is this? When I jacked up the rig, the wheel moved about 1/2 inch or so. all other 7 wheels are tight (for now) But I need to use it to move some ice shacks around sunday and go ice fishing. How much stuff can I break by still driving it? bend axle, ruin sprocket, hub, chain...? Heres a dumb idea... take the wheel of and run 7? haha kidding kinda... is that possible?

[trebmaster]

drive it and change it as soon as you can. you have already done the damage to what can be damaged

[Rock Doctor]

If it moved that far, you are dangerously close to wrecking your Bearing Housing, if it is already damaged, then I say drive it as far as you want on Sunday.
Did you happen to order a new Housing?

You will need an outer brng 1.25"
inner and outer lip seal
2 Cork gaskets

Possibly an inner and an outer Bearing housing/carrier, depending if they are damaged or not.

Chain and Sprockets are probably fine

If you did wear into your Bearing Housing with your Axle, look closely at the Axle when you have it out, if it is damaged where the seals ride, you can fix it with something like JB Weld, or Liquid Metal. Another option is to swap that axle with any of the middle axles, as they have the seals in a different location (No bearing extensions)


Hope that helps

RD

[JohnF]

I would consider upgrading that axle to the HD bearing. That is if RD is still having a positive experience with his upgrade.

[Rock Doctor]

To date, I am still happy with how the new bearing system is working. I only know of one failing so far, and that was on a friends machine.

One thing to note: I don't remember off hand what yr Argo changed from using an integrated inner bearing carrier in the Bearing Extensions to the seperate carrier. You can check yours quite easily, look at the bearing ext flange, and if you can see that there are 2 cork gaskets in there, you can switch over just like in my vid. If there is only one cork gasket in there, you would need to have the extension machined out or replaced with the newer style.

RD

[trevorakm1]

don't mean to hijack this thread ,but it seems acharrette and i are in similar positions with our machines. i just changed the two front drive chains on my 01 bigfoot yesterday. having finally jacked it up to do the job i got to check the wheel wiggle. i have one that is tight and won't wiggle, middle right, the rest all seem to have some play up and down. my question is do i have to replace only the bearings or are there other parts to replace at the same time? i want to order all parts at the same time. is there a place to get the same bearings other than argo that you guys might recommend? roc doctor do you know if the 2001 bigfoot is a candidate for the hdi upgrade? what are the differences and advantages of the upgrade? acharrette, i beleive you live up in sanford maine, about 1.5 hrs from me in r.i. wondering if you would be into doing some riding some time this spring? thanks guys
trevor

[Redwing]

I think you are going to have to replace your seals also. With that much movement they are likely worn or destroyed. I get all my seals and bearings at local bearing shops. You can get the same quality and most likely at a better price. I am not sure of names for your aea as I am in Canada Just take an old bearing and seal to the shop, most are very helpful.

[JohnF]

... roc doctor do you know if the 2001 bigfoot is a candidate for the hdi upgrade? what are the differences and advantages of the upgrade? ...

Hi Trevor, I'm not RD and I haven't done the upgrade but when he did it I leafed through some parts manuals and around 6/02 is where they show the part switch to the new axle extension type. Take a peek at your extensions, if there are two cork gaskets then you have the newer style that makes the upgrade easier. With some machining I think the older style can be upgraded as well. You could also buy new extensions.

did you see the videos? http://www.6x6world.com/forums/argo-...sion-vids.html

These bearings are much larger and longevity is expected to improve.
RD is doing the experiment for us.

Note - no problem RD. Not a typo - just misremembered. I agree that this makes a difference. Thanks.

[Rock Doctor]

Hi Trevor, I'm not RD and I haven't done the upgrade but when he did it I leafed through some parts manuals and around 6/02 is where they show the part switch to the new axle extension type. Take a peek at your extensions, if there is only one cork gasket then you have the newer style that makes the upgrade easier. With some machining I think the older style can be upgraded as well. You could also buy new extensions.

did you see the videos? http://www.6x6world.com/forums/argo-...sion-vids.html

These bearings are much larger and longevity is expected to improve.
RD is doing the experiment for us.

Hi John,
Sorry to be picky, but you have a slight error, probably just a typo. If you have TWO cork gaskets in the front and/or rear bearing extensions, you have the newer style.
Normally I would never correct anyones post, but in this case it makes a difference


RD

[Rock Doctor]

. my question is do i have to replace only the bearings or are there other parts to replace at the same time? i want to order all parts at the same time. is there a place to get the same bearings other than argo that you guys might recommend? roc doctor do you know if the 2001 bigfoot is a candidate for the hdi upgrade? what are the differences and advantages of the upgrade? acharrette, i beleive you live up in sanford maine, about 1.5 hrs from me in r.i. wondering if you would be into doing some riding some time this spring? thanks guys
trevor

I always replace the Axle seals, Bearing, and Cork "Flange" gaskets if I remove an axle to get a bad outer bearing out.

Give the "loose" bearings a few shots of grease, if they tighten up, I would call them good, if you can still wiggle them all about, I would start thinking about replacing them.

I don't know for sure about the 2001, but it looks like johnf looked into it. Tks john

RD

[trevorakm1]

just took the newly front chained bigfoot for a ride in the yard, runs great. i found in the process of rechaining that there aren't any set screws in the front axle drive sprockets. the parts manual doesn't list these either only for the middle and rear wheels is this correct? seems odd and troublesome any info? i thought i read somewhere this morning that these two sprockets are supposed to float can this be? any help is welcome, being a novice mechanic i really value people's input on this forum. actually if it weren't for this forum i think this machine would kick my ass. thanks for the input.

trevor

[Mike]

Yes, the front two sprockets are free floating.

[Rock Doctor]

I let the sprockets on my "Idler Shafts" float as well.


RD

[trevorakm1]

thanks for the replies everyone. okay so i guess i let them float and i noticed that also rocdoc, that the idler shafts floating.

trevor

[skypilot777]

imjust looking at doing drive bearings below the trany sprocket and frame....are these the idler shafts..and what do you mean by floating