Excess sprocket/axle olay

[Rusty-Gunn]

Hi. The wife and I removed the old chains off our Max IV today. We will replace them with Raider 530 o-ring chain (see my Raider thread in the General forum).
I noticed the rear double sprockets have excess play in them as compared to the middle double sprockets. The play rotates both forward and backwards about a quarter inch. Maybe more.
This Max IV has splined axles.
I figure the splines in the double sprocket tube is wearing out. Could this be the case?
I noticed this play about a month ago but had not compared it to anything at the time. I thought it was a non-issue then. Now I'm not so sure.
Also, these sprocket tubes have a zerk, but no grease goes in. Clogged? How to unclog these? Could these be unscrewed and new ones installed?
Thank you.

[msafi65]

The rears on your max should be greased often to help eliminate wear. I find them with quite a bit of wear if not lubed. pull your zerks and clean holes with a drill bit. reinstall and grease them often. The axle material is usually harder than the hub and wear is in the hub predominantly.

[Rusty-Gunn]

Thanks, Mark. I will clean out the zerks. I figure I need to buy new sprockets soon, too. I never noticed the zerks until yesterday when we pulled the chains. (New Raider 530 chains installed today).

[Rusty-Gunn]

Has anyone ever drill a bolt hole through the sprocket tube/axle and inserted a bolt? This might salvage a worn out spline within the tube. (when sprocket teeth are in good shape).
Or perhaps both splines and a bolt on new ones might be the best? Just thinking.out loud. Any comments?

[amphibious drew]

Has anyone ever drill a bolt hole through the sprocket tube/axle and inserted a bolt? This might salvage a worn out spline within the tube. (when sprocket teeth are in good shape).
Or perhaps both splines and a bolt on new ones might be the best? Just thinking.out loud. Any comments?

Oh yeah, someone tried that on my Max IV before I owned it. They changed at least one broken axle after that. I replaced the rest when they started breaking and I realized what they had done.

[Rusty-Gunn]

Thanks Drew. I didn't think they'd break. Good to know.

[john swenson]

rusty, i told someone else about the tapered hub and sprocket set up that mcmaster carr sells. the hub for the axle comes in lots of bores and is a split tapered design. the sprocket ordered for your chain size and no. of teeth matches the hub. when both are installed on the axle, 3 bolts thru the hub thread into the sprocket and draw it tight which in turn clamps the hub to the axle extremely tight. i have been using them on my primary drive on my max 2 and they haven't moved or spun. maybe this will help. good luck john boy va.

[Rusty-Gunn]

Thanks John. I will need to look into these. Sounds intrtesting. Website?

Regarding zerks... Ckeaned and working. Grease squirted into the rear sprocket tubes.

Problem... How do you guys grease the middle tubes? The chains are in the way. My grease gun head won't fit.

[john swenson]

rusty, look up under mcmaster carr co. quick change sprockets. j.b.

[Rusty-Gunn]

Thank you.

[Rusty-Gunn]

I took a look at mcmastercarr and searched for the sprockets. Cool stuff. I now see how they work. The tighter the fastening bolts the tighter the hub gets. It chokes the axle. No splines though. Which causes me one concern... Once the hub free-spins (not tight enough) the machine won't go anywhere. It would be nice if it was keyed into one spline.
I like how the sprokets can be changed out seperately from the hub.