Snapped Arctic Cat Rear Axle

[RobJ]

Thanks everyone for your input.

Rob, thank you for posting that picture and parts breakdown. I see a difference between our models though. First, the AC has disc brakes in the rear and second, it has two CV joints per rear axle. It has independent rear suspension. You can see the rear end in the second photo of my first post. The axle snapped where it enters into the right rear wheel, where the drive splines are.

I was really hoping to see how to remove the axle from the "rear end". I will have to take of the CV boot to see how to do it. Nevertheless, I sure appreciate you getting that information and trying to help me...very thoughtful.

They are the same, the parts picture isn't that great. Mine is also independent rear end and has both, inner and outer. I just can't find any better pics at the moment.

The Axle just pulls out of the tranny if I recall. Nothing else since the A arm and all keeps it in place. Pretty tough axle, I'm surprised it snapped in the first place.

That engine/rear end combo has been made by Suzuki since about 88-89. Mine is the 280cc version and is the 4wd. The old King Quad was the first atv with 4 wheel independent suspension, select 2wd/4wd AND a select front diff locker. I don't think they change the motor tranny in the 14 or so years it was made. My BIL has the AC 250.

Good Luck,
Rob

 

[3RRL]

So you're saying I can slide the axle out of the rear end with a little pulling? That's great to hear then. I was afraid I'd have to punch out some hidden dowel pin or need some special tool. Should be a piece of cake in that case.
Thanks for all the help. I'll post after I make the repair and do the annual oils/filters maintenance.

Note to farm ATV owners:
Keep your grown up kids who think they are Evil Knievel off your bikes.

 

[EddieWalker]

...Note to farm ATV owners:
Keep your grown up kids who think they are Evil Knievel off your bikes.

Rob,

Been enjoying the thread and totally understand where you are coming from in trying to understand how to take something apart that you have never done before. Rob was a HUGE help to me in rebuilding my dozer engine and explaining how it is done!!

I know it's probably not possible with his age and all, but I try to make the kids fix what they break or ruin. Even if it's just spending hours going through the motions like scrubing the cement floor in the shop. I know they can't remove the paint they sprayed on there, but after a few hours of it, they get the message to not do that again. (I hope )

I just think that if he knew what it took to fix what he broke, he might take more care of it. Of course, when I was in my early 20's, I had a jeep and took allot of pride in destroying it. I'm not sure about that mentality, but after awhile, I lost interest in working on it all the time and destroying stuff in general. Now I like stock and hate wrenching!!!

Eddie

 

[RobJ]

So you're saying I can slide the axle out of the rear end with a little pulling? That's great to hear then. I was afraid I'd have to punch out some hidden dowel pin or need some special tool. Should be a piece of cake in that case.
Thanks for all the help. I'll post after I make the repair and do the annual oils/filters maintenance.

Note to farm ATV owners:
Keep your grown up kids who think they are Evil Knievel off your bikes.

Pretty sure, but of course now the pressure is really on!! I guess my shop manual is at the weekend place..I hope..and the next trip isn't until Friday. But here is a screen shot of my Rancher which I believe is the same.

Hopefully I'll find that manual!!!!!

 

[3RRL]

Thanks guys,
Eddie, unfortunately the older kid who wrecked my bike only comes up for a once a year visit. So I get to fix their goof ups! Now my little Wes is always helping me. He is 10 times more responsible than his big brothers.

Rob-
Thanks very much for that last picture.
That's exactly what my axle looks like too. I printed it out and will take it to camp. Hope there is nothing special about the repairs. If I have time this weekend, I might take a bunch of photos to show the axle and rear brake repair too.
Thanks again.

 

[RobJ]

Any news or are you still on the road? I FINALLY found my manual!! That's one bad thing about having 2 places. You need 2 of everything OR what you need is always at the other place.

Anywho, my manual only goes up to 1995. I didn't look close this weekend because it was the Ranchers turn for work. The manual shows u-joints but I may have CV joints in my 1999 model. The manual says a slide hammer to pull them straight out. I hope you checked those boots because that's what kills most CV joints when they get dirt in them.

Rob

 

[3RRL]

Thanks Rob,
I only got the ATV move from under a tarp into one of my canopy tents and jacked up, ready to work on. As usual, something else came up like having to clear 2 culverts that got plugged before the big rains hit us. Not only that, but had to service the solar batteries too. Plus we did not get up to camp until noon yesterday and left for home at 4 today. Just not enough time.
So now I have to wait for next week. Anyway, I got all the parts and the bike is ready to work on.

 

[3RRL]

I wanted update and thank Rob specifically for the page he posted. It was more help than anything else I could find.
I finally found time to start the repair. Unfortunately, I did not take as many photos of it as I should have, but I'll share what I did.
One other thing Eddie, I don't think it was Wes who broke the ATV. I think it could have been on of my big kids or even myself after thinking about it.

As a refreshers, here's what happened.
Inspecting the damage, I saw that the right rear axle was broken off right at the serrations near the disc brake. This particular model has independent rear suspension so it has two rear axles on CV joints. I also saw that the hydraulic brake shoes fell out of the caliper. They were worn sideways, as though they had been out of position for a long time. I also saw the mechanical foot brake line was busted as well. I'm sorry I did not take many photos of the damage.

After making notes of what I thought was broken, I went on line to order new parts. A whole new right rear axle assembly complete with CV joints and new rubber boots, a new right rear brake caliper and a new foot brake cable assembly. The rotor was fine so I did not buy that. After receiving the parts, I finally had time to dis-assemble the CAT and make the repairs. One thing I was not sure of was how to get the old axle out of the rear differential? You can see I posted here and got help. You can also see in the following photos that all you do is stick a screw driver blade behind the CV boot and pry while pulling hard, exactly as described in this thread. It popped right out.
Here are the damaged parts.

 

[3RRL]

After getting it all apart, I removed the old hydraulic brake caliper and the busted foot brake cable assembly. I must say that Arctic Cat is first class in their manufacturing. All their parts and unique assembly was very clever and excellent quality. Since I had no shop manual, and everything in the owner's manual said whatever needed to be repaired take to an authorized Arctic Cat dealer, I had no instructions to do the dis-assembly other than what Rob had provided here in this thread. But I figured it out and it was pretty easy.

Well, I got the new caliper and brake pads on and also the mechanical foot brake cable. Then bled all the brake lines and adjusted the foot brake to "perfect". Finally, I aired up the tires to 7lbs and put it all back together.



I also changed the oil and filter putting in Shell Rotella 15-40 Synthetic oil. Also changed the fuel filter and spark plug and cleaned the air filter. Then I took it out for a spin and immediately made my way to "Big Hill" as the kids call it, a super steep long uphill grade on one of the trails. As I approached it I shifted into 2nd gear in "medium" transfer case and climbed right up that thing like it was nothing! What a happy surprise to find I got excellent traction in forward for a change. I had no idea how long that right rear axle had been broken, but now knew why it did not get good traction before.
So even though I had a million things to do, it was really satisfying to have the Arctic Cat running great again.

 

[3RRL]

Here are some more pictures from a while ago to show how we use the CAT.





So you can see it has been used well for many chores and fun too. I'll say they are great units.
What scares me the most is I have no clue how we had been driving it with that broken axle like that . Best I can remember when it started losing traction like that climbing up hills was at least a year ago or more. There was no indication of stuff rattling around. It just kept running.

One thing I recall way back was that the hydraulic brake started to get soft like it was leaking down. It must have been when the brake pad slid out and the plunger was pushing past the "O" ring seal. It never occurred to me to check for a broken axle leading to it. The broken axle must have allowed just enough play to allow the brake pad to slide out of the caliper, but not enough to notice it was really broken.

Upon visual inspection, I could not even see the little brake pad was displaced, so I had no clue what was really wrong. The only way I found out was when I tried to climb a hill and slid backwards and then pulled the hydraulic brake. It gave out completely and then I stomped on the mechanical foot brake, which the cable was screwed up and finally busted off. The entire wheel came off with rotor and all. Only then could I see the axle had been broken for some time.