Spiderbox Rear Axle lateral play

[T3beatz]

Hey guys, recently I've been out riding and my chain popped, I didn't know how it happened. Then the other day I was hearing a knocking sound in the back went to take a look and couldn't find anything. Well, once I got back to the garage after further inspection I was able to notice when I push the back of the buggy side to side the break rotor would shift about 1/4". So I figured that's what made my chain pop, and looking at the bearings it looks like they are sliding on the axle. Is there any way to fix this? Maybe a couple of split locking collars just behind the bearings to keep things from shifting?

[SYCARMS]

Just looking at the axle on mine to make sure before answering. The bearings are in a retainner which bolts the assembly to the chasis. The axle has a slight shoulder which will not allow the bearing to move any further back on the axle. I suggest you pull the axle to inspect both axle and bearings for excessive wear or twist which I guess could have stretched the axle. Better than finding out on the trail.

[T3beatz]

yeah, about 2 months ago I switched to the 39T sprocket so I had to remove one of my bearings so that I could slide the flangette off and get the sprocket on. tonight I'm gonna pull what I can off and take a look at everything to see what could be wrong.

[metalstudman1]

Welding a small gusset on the flangette holder towards the chassis helps the shifting bearings when under hard turns & loads- I realize your axle is different than the ones pictured. Also ckau has another solution by boxing the flangette towards the wheels.

[ckau]

Are you using a straight aftermarket axle? If so then locking collars on both sides of the bearing will help solve the issue. I use locking collars on both sides of my brake and sprocket hubs mainly to keep the keys fron shifting out. Use the split collars, the cheap solid ones with the set screws don't last. No matter how tight you get them or what type of thread locker you use your still going to loose the set screw.
I use 1" solid keywayed axles so the best thing I did that cured all sorts of problems was to get some schedule 40 thick wall pvc pipe with a 1" inner dia, Cut the pipe to the various lengths to fit as spacers between all the bearings, sprocket hubs and wheel hubs, any free space where the axle is exposed. When the wheel hubs are tightened on the axle ends any lateral freeplay is eliminated. All the axle componets are held in place. Plus the pipe sleave protects the axle from nicks and dings. This really helps when you have to remove the axle. One tiny little nick can really make it tough to slide a bearing off. Applying a light coat of grease to the axle before sliding the spacers on keeps rust and corrosion off the axle surface.
The white sections in this pic are the various lengths of pipe. Make sure all your brake and sprocket hubs are lined up perfect and the axle is centered in the swing arm cause there's no lateral adjustment after it's all assembled.

[T3beatz]

Well, I think I figured out what the problem may be and I have a temporary fix for now.
where the chain tensioner mounts on one side I found cracks and what seemed like the tubing was bending up, this was a while ago and I welded it all up. Yesterday I was out checking that area and it seems as though the tubing has started to crack and bend on the other side also. I guess that's whats making the bearing hangers slide out more on the axle... I also noticed I had to tighten my chain tensioner up a few times, I thought it was my chain stretching but it's just the tubing bending around the tensioner. My temp fix was to take some angel steel and weld it around. I think one of you had this same problem (Ckau or MSM). I also don't have the cross bar that Ckau has in the pic above, I'm going to put that one on also but I would like to know is it difficult to remove the engine with the crossbar installed.

for the sliding that I have on the axle I just made a spacer out of some 1"ID tubing to go in between my hubs and the bearings.
If you look at the pic you can see the green on the axle that is the tubing that I welded on the hub in order to take some stress of the splines they stop about 1/4" away from the bearings.


I'll post some more pics later of the bent tube near the tensioner.

[ckau]

Originally Posted by T3beatz

I also don't have the cross bar that Ckau has in the pic above, I'm going to put that one on also but I would like to know is it difficult to remove the engine with the crossbar installed. .

No, not that bad. the cross bar does take away some wiggle room. The bar adds so much more stiffness to the swing arm, a little more effort to remove the motor was a fair tradeoff

[T3beatz]

cool, thanks... I guess that will be my next addition, but I think I'm going to wait until I switch Axles to the one you have. I want to add the bearing near the center of the axle so I'm sure I'll have to remove the engine, I don't feel like doing all of this just yet so once I get a chance I'd like get it all done at the same time.

[x-bird]

i was thinking about adding a chain guard/bash bar from front to rear and having a connector bar drop down to it from the center crossmember. would likely added the same amount of stiffness and eliminate any interference with engine removal. Didn't even realize til just now out in the garage that there's no lower rear crossbar. no wonder these swingarms are so light ...