Max II Axle Supporting Shaft Question

[duckhunt81]

My MaxII has the bronze bushings in the axles that ride on a support shaft that goes though frame, and the shaft is held to the frame with a cotter pin. A few weeks ago I was riding down the road and the machine starts to buck like a mule, I look down and the front wheel is flopping around and the chain breaks. I limp home to find that the front support shaft has slid into the opposite axle thus not supporting the one flipping & flopping. It was no big deal to fix and be right back to riding. This past weekend I was exiting a pond with sticky mud on the banks due to low water levels. I'm rocking side to side, barely making any headway, when I notice a rear tire kicked out sitting dead. Finally get the machine out and do a quick look and the same thing happened with the rear support shaft. Does this happen often and I have not read about it, or is something installed wrong? If this is a known problem what is the best solution? Should I be looking into converting to inner bearings and has one done this before? Any insight on this issue is greatly appreciated.

[Mike]

Do you have locking collars on your outer bearings?

[racerone3]

if your cotter pins are breaking, then something is wrong... the bushings could be bone dry and seizing on the shaft when hot causing them to twist and shear the cotter pin. like Mike said, check that your locking collars are tight, if the axle shifts out it could be falling off the rod and then breaking the cotter pin by hitting the rod while it's flopping around. that is an issue i've never heard of with a max

[duckhunt81]

I do have locking collars on the outer bearings and there are tight. I removed the axle last night to fix the shaft and the bushing was not dry. However the shaft was a little sticky when I tried to slide it out of the opposite axle. I guess I should pull all the axles out a check fitment of the bushings on the shafts. I also noticed that the axle that came loose was bent.

As far as converting to inner bearings, has this been done by anyone here? If so, how would be the best way to tackle that project?

[egoperf]

I did it on an older max. the center rails of the frame face the same direction so you can weld a plate on the open side of the frame and bolt 1 1/4 pillow block bearings to the. on the other side you can just bolt the bearings to the flat side of the frame.