jeepwm69

Looks like the acquisition happened in 2016..... http://www.pivotworks.com/LearningResources.aspx?ItemID=734&page=1

Just got off the phone with Pivotworks. The guy there confirmed that for a couple of years now All Balls and Pivotworks have been the same bearings in different packaging. I have a set in the wife’s Rancher that have held up well (not a tremendous amount of use, probably put them in around 2013) and the set I put in my buddy’s Rincon lasted 5 years, but looks like it was as I feared; taking a reputable brand, sticking a lesser product in the packaging, and hoping to sell a bunch before the consumer catches on. The guy said “Well they have a free one time replacement” and my response to that was “Yeah but I don’t want to spend all my time swapping out bearings. My time is worth something too” I got these cheap so I will use them and then take advantage of the free replacement but the next time I have to buy bearings I will be going back to OEM Honda

Over Black Friday weekend I noticed Amazon had pivot Works bearings for my Honda 500’s for around $22. I ordered a few sets and they came in yesterday. We have discussed the fact that the same conglomerate owns all balls and pivotworks, and it looks like they might be going down the road thay we hate to see when a big company buys a smaller company that makes a good product. The first set that came in were carded, And the package had been torn so it had been taped back up. Wasn’t impressed but they looked like I remembered pivot works bearings looking. The next couple of sets I opened Were in newer packaging and the bearings had seals on the sides. There was also a sticker on the individually wrapped bearings that just happens to be the all balls part number for the foreman Bearing. This part number was also etched on the inner race of the bearing. Then I got a set in newer packaging that did not have seals on the side of the bearings and had a part number sticker on them, same as the others, but had “PW” After it. I’m going to call them today and ask what’s up. I have not been impressed with all ball bearings, but Pivotworks works seemed to last longer than anything else I’ve tried other than OEM. My guess is they are going to simply re-package all ball bearings now and sell them as pivot works. All of the packaging that I got had the “lifetime warranty” at the top of the package, but I would rather pay more for bearings that last than have to be constantly swapping them out

What’s the cut on gifts? For a while there was no VAT on gifts to the UK. Now they do it even on gifts if the value is over 50£

And on the end of the orange wire you put a quick connect to hook to the tender?

LOL. My brother in law is a huge Buckeye fan. Watched the game at his place last weekend. He doesn't even count the last loss to Mich because OSU had an interim coach. His wife said "I think it still counts as a loss" and he was "NOPE!"

Welcome to the board!

Shoot me some pics via email then! My username here @yahoo.com. I don't care if it's ugly if it works. I have about a dozen batteries in and right outside my shop that need tenders on them, so sounds like you have a solution, right down to the part about putting it in the rafters with drop downs.

Welcome. Guessing you're a Michigan fan?

You know the rules Misterclean! WE NEED PICS.

I agree with Toodeep. You also have a limited audience here till the site traffic picks up. Might want to get a value from the guys here and then list it on bookface. With a kid on the way you need to maximize what you get out of it.

Yep, we eat all that again at Christmas. LOL My wife is allergic to crawdads. Gets all itchy and red if she eats them. I love em, but don't get to eat them much anymore. When we were younger guys would do boils a couple of times a year but now we're all old with kids so don't get together screwing off like we used to.

Awesome. Thank you!

That's for a 97 Mac. All the 300's I plan on keeping are 2nd gens so I can use the Rick's CDI's and the 424's (without finding or modifying one to fit a first gen). But you are correct, 3rd gens would be more like the 350 method. As much as I'd like to take credit for it, I just had the idea. Retro and Melatv came up with the actual "how to"

Dick's is making it sound like they're doing one run of them and then going to weigh demand before making more. On the one hand, that doesn't make sense. They had to set up tooling to make these things so I can't imagine only doing one run of them. On the other, I guess that's kinda what detroit did with the DGL. What I'd really like to see if a full SELECTABLE locker available for the older bikes. Auto lockers are nice, but they can give you some quirky driving characteristics. I have Lock Rights front and rear on my hunting Jeep. Pretty much the same thing as this Aussie Locker. You get some racheting going around corners with the occassional "BANG" of it locking or unloading. If you stay off the gas in the corners it's not too bad. I have a Detroit True Trac for the rear of my "town" Jeep. Haven't installed it yet. Another project. it's IMO the best limited slip on the market. No clutches so nothing to wear out. The clutch packs in the Jeep factory limited slip diffs brought about the nickname "trash lock" (Trak Lok was the actual name). What most really want are ARB air lockers or OX lockers. The ARB's are activated by air, and the OX are cable actuated. They are full lockers, which beat a Limited Slip every time in the mud, and the selectable ones allow you to run unlocked when they aren't needed so they don't affect driveability.

I had a buddy give me a MS180 Stihl. He loaned it out and the guy tried to run it with the brake on and melted the crankcase and smoked the clutches. I ordered replacement parts from Hutzl but they're sitting in the floor of my shop with a dozen other projects around them. Figured I would fix it and use it as a loaner/beater saw. For occasional use so long as you have a sharp chain on it anything will probably work. I get pro grade stuff because I expect it to last much longer (even with occasional use, less messing with them).

That thing in KM/hr given the source?

We normally go to the beach every summer. Go to a fairly remote spot just South of Charleston SC that is gated, so the beaches are more or less deserted and the area is right next to a huge nature preserve so they're very strict on keeping the area critter friendly. When the kids were younger we'd crab, fish, explore the marshes and play with all the critters, but now that they're teenage girls we pretty much sit on the beach, read, and drink beer, and then eat a lot of seafood. Didn't go last year because wife was 11 months pregnant during beach season (really only 7, but she looked like she was 11). Already put a deposit down on the house for next summer. I'd be content to hang out around the farm, but with a house full of women, the beach it is. I do love me some seafood, and Charleston is a really neat city, so I enjoy the trip.

Fish I'm a big believer in getting pro grade stuff these days. The box store stuff just isn't as good, IMO. The pro grade stuff definitely costs more, but I like to "buy once, cry once" and with occasional use pro grade stuff will last me a lifetime. I'd get the 550XP if you're looking for a 50CC saw (and assuming you can't find a 346XP). Some folks would rather spend less and get something new every few years. I buy stuff with the intention of it lasting until I'm gone. https://www.husqvarna.com/us/products/chainsaws/compare/?CatId=WebCat_9259&Id=967651101&Id=966648181

Nope, that one would work too!

For those looking to make steering a little easier on their Honda ATV, Wide Open makes a cable actuated front driveshaft disconnect that allows the machine to operate in 2wd, making steering much easier. These disconnects are available for 93-00 (2nd and 3rd gen) 300's, 350 Ranchers, 450 Foremans, and 01-04 500 Rubicons. They are expensive though. For the 350 Rancher, an alternative way to gain selectable 4wd is by using an 04-07 400AT Rancher front diff and driveshaft. This is an electrically activated diff, so it does require wiring in a switch, and the front frame crossmemember must be notched a hair to clear the longer 400 front diff, but otherwise it bolts right in, and uses all Honda OEM parts. These 400AT front diffs and driveshafts are quite a bit cheaper than getting a 424, and again, you're using all OEM hard parts in this swap. The pics below were from Retro's build on his Creamsicle 350 Rancher, and show the notch that has to be slightly enlarged to fit the bigger diff, and also the diff installed. Now to power the diff, one needs a throttle assembly off of an 05-11 Foreman, or 05-14 Rubicon, or 04-07 400AT, or a Rincon. These contain the factory 2wd/4wd switch. Wiring the switch is pretty simple. There is a plug on the side of the 400AT front diff that has a green wire and an orange and white striped wire. Ground the green wire, and connect the orange and white wire to one of the wires coming off of that 4wd switch. Connect the other wire on the 4wd switch to a key'd on wire (I used the pink wire on the ignition switch). This means with the key on, when you activate the switch 12V is sent to the electromagnet in the front diff that puts it in 4wd. If you want to add a 4wd indicator light, you can get a 37566-HP5-600 lens from a footshift 420 that indicates 4wd. Get a socket from an old 300 or 420 and tie the positive wire coming off of it to that orange and white wire, so that it also gets 12V when the switch is turned on (and of course, ground the other wire on the light socket). Again, see pics from retro's build showing where he put the 4wd indicator light. You can also see the 4wd switch in the 400AT throttle assembly in his pic. The thing that you MUST understand when doing this, is you have to computer protection straight wiring the diff like this. On the factory selectable bikes, the ECU will not allow the diff to engage unless the front and rear speed sensors are showing the same speed (front and rear wheels are turning at the same speed). On the 350 Ranchers, the speed sensor is on the rear output, and there is only one speed sensor on these bikes, so you don't have the ECU protection on these older machines. When you flip the switch, the front diff will lock in....immediately If your front wheels are sitting still and rears are spinning at 50MPH when you hit the switch, you will destroy something, so make sure you're either stopped, or going slow with all four wheels turning the same speed before you hit that switch. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. @retro, hope it's ok that I used your pics. If you like I can take them down and replace with the pics from my build. You just took a lot better pics than I did.

Decided I wanted to add brake lights to my daughter's 300 at the same time I did the start-in-gear mod. I used an 05-11 Foreman brake M/C and lever which has two microswitches build in (420 and any newer Honda M/C assembly from 05-up should work). One microswitch was used for the start-in-gear mod described here. The other I ran a wire from ground to microswitch, and then ran the other side of the microswitch back to the bulbs and hooked them to the ground side. Then run a wire from the positive side of the bulbs to a keyed power on source (in the case of this 97 300, the pink wire in the battery area). With this wired up the brake lights work only when the key is on. To mount them, I ordered two small LED bulbs (1194 equivalants) and sockets from superbrightled's.com. I drilled holes on either side of the tail light bulb, and glued the sockets and bulbs into the tail light assembly. This means the tail light still works and the stock tail light is still used, and the LED's only work as brake lights.

I did the same mod on my daughter's 300, again using the Foreman brake lever so I could also add brake lights. On the 300 the wiring is as follows. Get your relay. Ground wire (under frame bolt) to Foreman brake micro switch Other side of micro switch to relay 85 Ground relay 87 12v pos switched power source to relay 86 (pink ignition wire) Snip wire going to neutral light. Relay 87a goes to the snipped (-) Neutral light wire which should be Light Green/Red and goes to bulb Relay 30 connects to the snipped end of the Light Green/Red wire that goes to the solenoid (neutral light wire you snipped that goes back into the harness) AND you need to run a jumper to the green wire going to the CDI. Then use the other microswich for your brake lights. I'll post another thread here

Figured I would post this up here, since it's something that I like to have on all my machines. I picked up a used Foreman 500 (05-11) brake master cylinder and brake lever, which has two micro switches built into it. This is for an 05 350 Rancher, which has one microswitch on the stock brake lever for the brake lights. You hook those wires onto one of the two microswitches on the Foreman brake lever, and hook a relay up to the other microswitch for the start in gear mod. Grounded wire goes to swtich on brake lever Wire coming off of other side of switch on brake lever goes to relay 85 Black/ brown wire coming off of 15A lights fuse goes to relay 86 Relay 87 is grounded Snip wire going to neutral light Relay 87A goes to neutral light Relay 30 goes to wire you snipped off that used to go to neutral light. This allows you to start the machine in gear, but only with the brake lever held back. Will still start in Neutral with the lever held back or not held back (as normal).

Bryan hasn't been on the old forum for 8 days.