Project Wide Open YFZ450 is going to be put through quite a bit of harsh riding in the WORCS series and certain things need to be changed to accommodate that. One of those things is the axle. It's pretty tough to snap an axle, but it can be done. Along with needing the extra strength, our YFZ needed the width. With the addition of the new wider front end, the rear needed to be widened to make it equal.

Why TEAM

The TEAM Industries Axle design works very well. We ran a TEAM Axle for a long time on Project Big Red with no problems. Some of the things we like about them are their high strength while still being lightweight, the same splines on every axle, and spacers. The identical splines allow you to use multiple hubs with different bolt patterns. This allows you to use tires from other quads you might have, by just buying a different set of forged aluminum hubs. The spacers let you change the width of the axle by just removing the hub and using a combination of the two different sized spacers or on their own. For our quad we used both the large and small spacers on both sides.

Changing the Axle

First put the rear end of the quad is up on a stand and take off the tires. If you are only removing the axle to change the swingarm, like between motos at the track, only the right tire has to be taken off.

With the tire(s) off, the brake caliper needs to be removed. There are two bolts that hold it in place.

The next thing to do is to remove the hubs. Like the tires, you only have to remove the right hub. With the new Team axle you have to use their hubs. If you want to leave the left hub on so it's still installed (in case you want to use your stock axle as a spare) you can. To remove the hub, first take out the cotter pin and then the large nut can be removed.
	The old hub should slide off; it may take a couple taps with a hammer to get it to break loose.

Next loosen the axle nut. Be sure to remove the two small allen head set screws that help hold the nut in place. To remove our nut, we used a very large crescent wrench. Even with the quad in gear, when trying to loosen the nut the axle might turn. In that case use a large screwdriver and put it in a place that will stop the axle from turning. This nut can sometimes be very hard to remove, but you don't want it to ever come loose while you are riding so that is a good thing.

When it is finally off, you can slide the brake rotor off the end of the axle. Now there should be nothing left on the right side of the axle and it is ready to be slid off. This too may require some taps from a hammer to slide it out the left side of the swingarm. Make sure you at least have the hub nut on the end of the axle so you aren't hitting directly on the end of the axle. That could screw up the threads on it.

Once the old one is out, the new axle is ready to go in. You should probably apply some grease with your finger to the bearings in the swingarm. Then work backwards of what you have to do to remove the stock axle. Make sure to apply threadlock to the axle nut, rear sprocket, brake caliper, and hub nuts. With these hubs you can use the stock lug nuts, but we had to clean up the threads on two of the studs on each of our new hubs.

The whole switch took very little time and was problem-less, except for the threads on the hubs. The axle looks really good, and everything has held tight through two WORCS races and a local GP. The nice finish has received a few chips, but it still looks way better than stock. A new axle is pretty costly, but is a must for any serious rider or racer.

http://www.team-ind.com/oem/

Phone: 866-766-9288

Suggestions, comments, products you would like to see tested and installed on Project Wide Open? Please let us know via email.