Honda 300 Loud Clanking sound

[Colbybogolin 6]

So I was out riding my 300 and suddenly, the back wheels locked up. I hit the gas and it clanked loud as !. I put it in reverse and it made no noise. Any ideas???

[shadetree 5,969]

without seeing it ?, gonna say your rear differential needs looking at.

[toodeep 1,759]

Rear brake pads let loose would be a guess by the limited info. 

[TRX Student 151]

Will it still move?

[shadetree 5,969]

46 minutes ago, TRX Student said:

Will it still move?

if the rear diff or rear brakes are locking it up when going forward ?, what makes ya ask this ?...lol. he said it locked up while going forward ?, could be anything in the drive line :-).

[TRX Student 151]

1 minute ago, shadetree said:

if the rear diff or rear brakes are locking it up when going forward ?, what makes ya ask this ?...lol. he said it locked up while going forward ?, could be anything in the drive line :-).

He said it locked up going forward with a loud clank, then put it in reverse with no noise. Im wondering if the rear is still unable to turn, or if he was able to go into reverse and move, or after the lockup and clank, the noise disappeared and he was able to move.

[shadetree 5,969]

4 minutes ago, TRX Student said:

He said it locked up going forward with a loud clank, then put it in reverse with no noise. Im wondering if the rear is still unable to turn, or if he was able to go into reverse and move, or after the lockup and clank, the noise disappeared and he was able to move.

well..he did say he got it to go in reverse ?, sooo..this tells me it still moves...right ?. maybe not forward though ?! . guess he should explained more.

[Colbybogolin 6]

I took the rear brake pads out. So it’s nothing with the brakes. I’m thinking it’s drivetrain related. Rear diff or something. It struggles to go forward but drives in reverse with ease. 

[Fishfiles 20,147]

When the pinion bearing goes out on a 300 , the pinion will separate from the ring gear when in forward motion and not make contact  , and pull together when in reverse --- 

[shadetree 5,969]

fish is correct ^^^ !.

[Fishfiles 20,147]

Did you by any chance check the oil in the rear diff , lately ?  -----  No oil , water , sludge would be a good indicator that something is wrong in the diff , there is a drain bolt in the bottom of the diff , the diff holds a very minimal amount of oil , only like 6 ounces ---- jack it up off the ground and try to spin the tires  by hand and see what you hear and feel ----  What part of Mississippi are you from , I am right over the line in La.

[Colbybogolin 6]

Ok. I’m gonna have to tear into the rear end AGAIN. Guess that’s the price you pay with running a stock 300 rear diff with aggressive 28’s. I have a spare pinion gear tho. I’ll do it this weekend. 

[Colbybogolin 6]

I’m on the coast by Gulfport/ biloxi 

[Fishfiles 20,147]

Practically my neighbor , I'm in Lacombe / Slidell ---- you ride at RedCreek 

 

[AKATV 839]

Hope its not the rear end-maybe u-joint let go on the rear drive shaft?

Man- 28's woould seem hard on a stock rear end for sure

Are you maintaing a 1 inch difference between front and rear tire sizes? The gearbox ratios on those call for 1 inch smaller in the front

I know that can put a great deal of strain on the drive train if not, especially with oversize tires more so on hardpack or pavement

Hope your tranny is ok too

Good let and let us know what you find

[shadetree 5,969]

2 hours ago, Colbybogolin said:

Ok. I’m gonna have to tear into the rear end AGAIN. Guess that’s the price you pay with running a stock 300 rear diff with aggressive 28’s. I have a spare pinion gear tho. I’ll do it this weekend. 

ya might need a ring gear as well ?. maybe even bearings and seals ?.

[Colbybogolin 6]

Nah. This bike would more make it anywhere at red creek

[Fishfiles 20,147]

1 hour ago, Colbybogolin said:

Nah. This bike would more make it anywhere at red creek

is that word " more " suppose to be a "not " 

 

How's about a pic of that 300 on 28's , what you running Outlaws 

 

[_Wilson_™ 6,591]

5 hours ago, AKATV said:

Are you maintaing a 1 inch difference between front and rear tire sizes? The gearbox ratios on those call for 1 inch smaller in the front

I know that can put a great deal of strain on the drive train if not.

 

 

Even tho i honda  recommends (the deference in tire size) on a 4wd 300... I believe the defrence aids in steering ....i  myself, and others here run the same size all the around with no issues at all.... But.... Now, if i was going add any mod to a 300 4wd .... it would be a 424 kick out. And any 300 4wd is gonna windup the drivetrain on pavement .... Hence the classic transfer case whine/noise from straight cut gear teeth...

 

 

[Fishfiles 20,147]

I have 3 - 300s that are 4wd and all run the same size tires front and back , 2 on 27s and one with 26s , they have been that way for a very long time , immediately after I got them  , with many hard miles on them , with no ill effects , I know many people that do the same , in fact I don't know anyone personally that doesn't run the same size tires all the way around , other than reading about people on forums with stock 300s ------- the ratio is like .01 difference from front and back , this is not uncommon on 4wd vehicles , I had a 76 F250 Ford Full Time 4wd 1 ton suspension and it had 4.09 front and 4.10 rear and came that way from the factory ---- so personally I don't feel running difference size tires had anything to do with the diff failure , aggressive tire threads may have played a part in it , ragging on it could have also been a factor , but lean more towards a lubrication problem , 300 diffs hold a very minimal amount of oil in them , they are also not very good at sealing oil in and keeping water and dirt out ,  the side seal on the left side is directly exposed to water and dirt ,  the right side seal is inside the brake drum which gets water and dirt in the cover  and acts like a washing machine grinding away ,   a small leakage of oil or intrusion of water is enough to kill one ----- my 300s run the 250/350 rear ends in them , they are much better at sealing as they have axle tubes all the way to the hubs -----  another thing comes to mind , was that diff rebuilt before with cheap bearings such as All Balls or another one of the China bearing kits off e-bay or amazon 

[jeepwm69 7,719]

11 hours ago, _Wilson_™ said:

 

 

Even tho i honda  recommends (the deference in tire size) on a 4wd 300... I believe the defrence aids in steering ....i  myself, and others here run the same size all the around with no issues at all.... But.... Now, if i was going add any mod to a 300 4wd .... it would be a 424 kick out. And any 300 4wd is gonna windup the drivetrain on pavement .... Hence the classic transfer case whine/noise from straight cut gear teeth...

 

 

Word on the street is Wide Open is discontinuing the 424.

 

Of course, that's from a guy trying to sell a bunch of them....but if they are, that would suck.

[_Wilson_™ 6,591]

You can still luck up on one .... just like any other discontinued part (just about) they can still be located ... I reckon... I better jump on one here before too long .... Haha

 

anyways  @Colbybogolin didn't intend to derail your topic ...

[AKATV 839]

Good to know that tire tire sizes dont have to be different in the front and rear. I never realized gearbox differences were a fraction of a fraction

Usually up here biggest I have run or seen, were 24 front, 25 rear on the fourtrax 300.

I still tend to think much bigger than that has to be hard on design of engine, transmission and gearboxs without a gear reduction or 424 switchout to take some load off,

especially with the big lug tires.

Thats just me though, as I tend to try and keep things stock or close as I can. Things tend to break easier when its gets around zero and below

When you are 15 miles back in 10 below, its a long cold hump out on foot when something lets go, it gives you time to ponder if bigger tires helped to blow out your gearbox 

Those rear gearboxes arent getting any easier to find lately...

Its such a small, lightweight and well designed workhorse of a machine, definately dont make em like that anymore- gotta take care of em............

 

Speaking of 424s- I was looking for the push pull cable if anyone has one, if not I will order the rebuild kit from Wide Open if they still have them

I just dug through my shed and found one I had for a Foreman 400 to install and found another old one I had for the Rancher 350 that had a bad cable and button

They were both Warn, so I thought that was a good forgotten find. Going to mount them up on a couple wheelers I am going to pass along when it gets warmer

Hadnt heard the news till now on Wide Open discontinuing the 424- guess I better check it out soon

[jeepwm69 7,719]

Well I'm not certain that they are discontinued.  A guy selling a bunch said they were discontinued, and when I pointed out that the Warns were, but the Wide Open models were still in production, he said that Wide Open had stopped production as well.

Guess I need to call them and see before I spread possible misinformation.

 

And I put 26's on my daughter's 300.  Fit great.  420 shocks up front, and a 350D rear using Don Oglesby's brackets which give a slight lift in the rear.

[jeepwm69 7,719]

Following up on that 424 being discontinued....I called them and they said they are indeed sold out of them (only for 300's, they still have them for other models) and aren't ordering any more at the moment. 

 

Apparently with the tarriffs the cost went up substantially and they said they would have to charge $150-200 more for each one.  If they order a bunch at the higher cost they might not be able to move them, so they're not ordering any more for now.

 

If/when the trade war cools off again they'll probably start bringing them in again.

 

So, if you want one, I would suggest getting it now. 

 

They did say repair kits are still available, and they weren't planning on discontinuing those.