Zoom's Tires, Swingarm & Driveshaft projects

[zoom45]

Ok, with all the super help on this forum I have decided to do some additional maintenace myself. Today, I removed the rear tire, swingarm and driveshaft. Good thing because my rear drive housing oil seals are leaking (front and rear). (That explains my other post about oil getting on the rear wheel). My driveshaft also has a rough spot in the joint so I'm going to replace the joint. I think I also found the source of a weird rattle I was having at certain cruising speeds. When I was taking the right side rear exhaust pipe off to access the swing arm bolt, I found one of the hose clamps loose that held the chrome on. It was just there and not connected to the chrome. On the tires - nothing to it. I used my harbor freight bead breaker and some heater hose for rim protectors and took the tire off the rim in just a few minutes. Now I need to order all the parts. I have used Bike Bandit before. Do you recommend anyone else for the original parts? I may try the 4 wheeler u-joint listed on Gadgit's drive shaft article. Note: at first I thought the drive shaft was ok but after I took it off is when I noticed the rough spot. It might pay to check yours that way next time your tire is off.

Zoom45

Hey, Zoom? When you take that u-joint out, you'll wanna look carefully at the inner faces of the yokes, after you remove the spring clips. One face on mine had a burr that wasn't dressed off after machining the bores. The spring clips can hide them.

If yours has burrs, file them off before replacing the u-joint, or the new one may bind too.

PS: what year is your bike, and how many miles are on it?

[zoom45]

2000 1500G with 52,000

Ehhhh...50,000 miles isn't bad life for a u-joint you can't actually re-grease.

[zoom45]

The ATV joint listed on Gadgit's page p/n 56-1498 from Tucker Rocky ATV is no longer available and the cross reference from Kawasaki doesn't cross to that number for that model. It's a couple of numbers off. The dealer was confused. The only one they show is the 49050-1002 which is about $75. Do you know another p/n that will work or specifications for the joint?

Did you see this page at Gadget's?
http://www.gadgetjq.com/ujoint.htm
The photos are of me changing mine, but for some reason he omitted the P/N of the joint I used. I got them from Team Motorsports, and they were P/N UJ7002. You can grease this one with a needle gun, btw.

OH, yes:

www.team-ind.com is their addy

1-888-766-9288 is their number

I hope they're still in business buddy.

[zoom45]

Is yours a 1500 or 1600? Would the joint be the same?

[zoom45]

There some u-joints on Ebay that is part number UJ702. May be the same but is missing a zero. http://cgi.ebay.ca/NEW-KAWASAKI-PRAI...742.m153.l1262

Mine is a 1500. I do believe they're the same. If you measure yours I'll measure mine, and post back.

Originally Posted by zoom45

There some u-joints on Ebay that is part number UJ702. May be the same but is missing a zero. http://cgi.ebay.ca/NEW-KAWASAKI-PRAI...742.m153.l1262

I'm not sure that's the same one. The shipping charge is very high though.

OK, mine is 0.866" outside diameter of the bearing cups. It is 1.363" min. across the outside of the clips, with clips and caps installed.that would be the same as the inside dimension of the yokes, assuming there's no burrs.

The overall dimension across the ends of the cups can and does vary between Nomad and ATV. It is not that important but measures 2" for the ATV joint. My stock one is closer to 2.187"

I rode with the Team u-joint about 4000 miles so far, and it seems to be working just fine. It's been up and down mountains and across the Mojave desert without complaint.

[zoom45]

My u-joint measures the same as yours. I got .863 on the end cap but I haven't taken it out yet for a more accurate measurement. I'm going to to wait till I find a new one. It has the letters HKR on the side. Is that a brand name?

Yes.

[macmac]

The swingarm seals are dealer only, take my word for it...