1995 fourtrax 300 4x4 rebuild

[_Wilson_™ 6,566]

i sure hope not ! lol i think it's just weathered on the outside (no small cracks) .. dont add forks to my plate , shade .. lol! 

Edited April 28, 2020 by _Wilson_™

[TRX Student 151]

Last few days I’ve been fiddling around with wiring and plastics, mocking things up to appreciate my progress, noticing something and stripping down again. 

Did all the ball joints, washed the plastics, tried my hand at drilling out broken bolts then using a reverse thread extractor. I think I’ve been successful 1 out of the 5 times I’ve used extractors. Break them all the time. Not sure what I’m doing wrong.

Wired in the front led pods to the rear tail light. I’ll get pics of that. Been working too fast, forgetting to take pics.

was too lazy to go to the garage to borrow a wrench for the rear axle nuts, I used something I bet no one here has done, a c-clamp!

 

Well,

The last piece of the puzzle arrived in the mail today, the disc brake conversion kit. Time to get to work and finish up this beast!!!!!!!!!!!

[Fishfiles 20,145]

Looking good ----c-clamp for axle nuts ,  we need to make a sticky , LOL  ----- You can't put to much torque / pressure on them EZ-Outs /  broken screw extractors when the bolt is frozen , after you break a few off then you will know when enough is enough 

[TRX Student 151]

11 minutes ago, Fishfiles said:

Looking good ----c-clamp for axle nuts ,  we need to make a sticky , LOL  ----- You can't put to much torque / pressure on them EZ-Outs /  broken screw extractors when the bolt is frozen , after you break a few off then you will know when enough is enough 

I hope by now I’ve learned.

[TRX Student 151]

When I started tearing into this machine, the brake fluid drained out, it was brown and gross. I finished installing the disc conversion kit and managed to open the master cylinder to fill the system with fluid and bleed it. I filled the cover with fluid and pumped the handle, but the fluid is not getting into the lines, and no bubbles are coming up, am I doing something wrong? Or is it more likely the master cylinder needs a rebuild?

[Fishfiles 20,145]

use a pair of pinch pliers or a small vise grip with a piece of rubber or cardboard and pinch off the rubber brake hose right at the master , don't go so tight it damages the hose , just enough to block the flow  , if the brake lever doesn't get hard and not touch the bar in one or  two pumps to get it primed up and then get hard and hold in one pump ,  then the master is bad ---- if it does get hard , hold the lever in with the pressure still applied and then let the pliers go , repeat that pinch process a few times while cracking the bleeder screws and you should get the fluid to move down to the brakes ---make any sense 

[_Wilson_™ 6,566]

you can also use a bungie cord on the brake lever if you need to.... just wrap around the brake lever and handle bar .... unless you have a friend who can help ... 

[Goober 1,555]

Screw extractors don’t work well with rusted frozen bolts and if ya break one off you’ll have a heckuva time drilling them out. I use a ball drill to smooth the surface, stake the center, drill a pilot nearly all the way to the end and increase sizes gradually. At some point i go with an extractor or a tap.

[shadetree 5,867]

1 hour ago, TRX Student said:

When I started tearing into this machine, the brake fluid drained out, it was brown and gross. I finished installing the disc conversion kit and managed to open the master cylinder to fill the system with fluid and bleed it. I filled the cover with fluid and pumped the handle, but the fluid is not getting into the lines, and no bubbles are coming up, am I doing something wrong? Or is it more likely the master cylinder needs a rebuild?

its you..doing it wrong...lol.

[TRX Student 151]

13 hours ago, Fishfiles said:

use a pair of pinch pliers or a small vise grip with a piece of rubber or cardboard and pinch off the rubber brake hose right at the master , don't go so tight it damages the hose , just enough to block the flow  , if the brake lever doesn't get hard and not touch the bar in one or  two pumps to get it primed up and then get hard and hold in one pump ,  then the master is bad ---- if it does get hard , hold the lever in with the pressure still applied and then let the pliers go , repeat that pinch process a few times while cracking the bleeder screws and you should get the fluid to move down to the brakes ---make any sense 

Thanks for the tips fish,

I tried clamping the hose right after the master, once inawhile I got one lonely bubble, but the handle never got hard.

I guess the master is bad.

I always see shindy for carb rebuild kits, do they make master rebuild kits too?

[TRX Student 151]

I also just glanced at the other threads on brakes, I see that some parts are interchangeable from other bikes. I have big bear parts and crappy chinese knock off parts. Going to see if the reservoir/master cylinder can be a direct swap/or maybe just the internals?......Will report back.

[shadetree 5,867]

1 hour ago, TRX Student said:

I also just glanced at the other threads on brakes, I see that some parts are interchangeable from other bikes. I have big bear parts and crappy chinese knock off parts. Going to see if the reservoir/master cylinder can be a direct swap/or maybe just the internals?......Will report back.

if your master is bad ?, you can buy just the rebuild kit from honda, dont buy them from ebay or amazon !.

[TRX Student 151]

21 hours ago, Fishfiles said:

Looking good ----c-clamp for axle nuts ,  we need to make a sticky , LOL  ----- You can't put to much torque / pressure on them EZ-Outs /  broken screw extractors when the bolt is frozen , after you break a few off then you will know when enough is enough 

Getting more practice at drilling out broken bolts!

This master and reservoir is off of what I think was a big bear. I took it off of a machine I found at the dump 4-5 years ago. The machines were all mangled and twisted from getting pushed around by loaders, even so, I kick myself all the time for not taking them home. Now that I’m into this hobby, I realize the value I passed up.

It looks as though this is a direct fit, I haven’t tried the cylinder yet, just hoping. I know I have a second one that might work. Taking the opportunity to practice my drilling out/taping skills.

[jeepwm69 7,606]

You don't want your Honda to say Yamaha though!

 

Joking...

 

I buy used OEM master cylinders on ebay.  Cheap and you know they're good quality.  Unless they're marked as "for parts or not working" if you get a bad one you can get your money back. 

[TRX Student 151]

Success!

getting better at the drilling, tapping. 

Giving up on ‘extracting’

I also got the brakes primed.

awesome.

[TRX Student 151]

Fairly certain there’s a brake master cylinder on a parts 450es I bought last year, but it’s not handy right now. 

This will work for now!

So, if anyone is on the lookout for a master cylinder for their 300, one from a Yamaha big bear/Kodiak will work.

 

kind of comical to see Yamaha in bold then in the background Honda lol.

 

I cringe abit, but don’t worry Honda fans, it’s not permanent.

 

[TRX Student 151]

16 hours ago, Goober said:

Screw extractors don’t work well with rusted frozen bolts and if ya break one off you’ll have a heckuva time drilling them out. I use a ball drill to smooth the surface, stake the center, drill a pilot nearly all the way to the end and increase sizes gradually. At some point i go with an extractor or a tap.

Thanks for the tip @Goober never thought of smoothing the surface of the broken bolt, duh. Made things go a lot....smoother....

[TRX Student 151]

I should add, because I don’t think I’ve mentioned it,

Ive got aluminum big bear wheels on the front. The disc brake conversion kit calls for minimum 12 inch wheels. These work. 

The aluminum needs a shine, but in its current state it matches the tan plastics perfectly. 

Ha.

[Fishfiles 20,145]

The Yamaha straight axle atvs like Big Bear ,  have the same offset rims as Honda 300 and 450 ----the master cylinder works as they have the 7/8 handle bars and the same Banjo fitting ----  I have a Kodiak left hand brake master on my 450 --- tie rod ends off the Yamaha will also work on Honda  

 

when drilling out the cover on the master start with a small bit right down the middle of the Philips head screw , then go bigger to the diameter of the threads of the screw , so just the head of the screw falls off , then it leaves you a stub to try and turn it out with pliers ,  many times I have gotten the screw out like this and not had to drill down into the threads 

[TRX Student 151]

1 minute ago, Fishfiles said:

The Yamaha straight axle atvs like Big Bear ,  have the same offset rims as Honda 300 and 450 ----the master cylinder works as they have the 7/8 handle bars and the same Banjo fitting ----  I have a Kodiak left hand brake master on my 450 --- tie rod ends off the Yamaha will also work on Honda  

 

when drilling out the cover on the master start with a small bit right down the middle of the Philips head screw , then go bigger to the diameter of the threads of the screw , so just the head of the screw falls off , then it leaves you a stub to try and turn it out with pliers ,  many times I have gotten the screw out like this and not had to drill down into the threads 

I wasn’t so lucky, the small screw broke off flush with the reservoir, I used the cap to help guide me in and catch shavings.

more great info!

I noticed my tie rod ends had play. Guess I’ll be switching those over too!!