Arctic cat wheel play

[merganser]

My rear left wheel on my 2003 arctic cat 400 4x4 seems to have more play in it than the other wheels. DO I have a bearing going out or something? I can wiggle it pretty good with my hands. It doesn't make any noise when I am riding it though. Please advise.

[Macgyver55]

Hard to say without seeing it, but probably either a bad bearing or the outer flange is loose on the axle. Have you checked the torque on the axle flange nut?

[merganser]

I haven't checked anything yet. I only noticed it when I loaded it into my pick-up bed and it looked like the back wheel was tracking wrong. Nothing looks bent, just a lot of play. If the bearings were shot, wouldn't I get a lot of noise or at least feel a grinding sensation. How do I get at the flange bolt?

[Dave S]

Does it only move at the wheel?

One of my sport machines had A-Arm bearings that went out and also tracked funny and had a lot of movement. Try to see where the movement reall is and go from there. If you can watch your A-Arms move as well, that could be the problem. If not, I would focus on what Macgyver mentioned.

[Dozer]

My bet is on a wheel bearing.

[merganser]

It seems to pivot around on the axle itself. I would relate it to a boat trailer wheel when the bearings go bad. There are so many things crammed into that area on the wheeler it is hard to tell just what is going on. I will have to rip into it this weekend to see exactly what is happening.