Ok guys ive been brainstorming on a replacement for the center spool and cv axles on the gtr 250. Ive got it in my mind that the center spool can be replaced with a front limited slip differential from an atv or a lsd from small car/truck. Take the chunk out of the diff housing and replace ring gear with sprocket and carrier bearings with sealed bearrings.....Profit?????

Ive really been eyeballing a front carrier from a trx500/rubicon....its got a ring gear that unbolts and a cam and pawl lsd....racheting action which to my understanding is similar to a traxloc/trulock locker.....i may be wrong tho. Main problem is i believe the carrier bearings are 29mm id.....they dont make sealed bearings with that id....28mm 28.5mm then jumps to 30mm.

Few options.

1. Have the carrier shaved down except a 28mm bearing.
2. Have a press on sleeve made to accept a larger bearing
3. Have bearings custom made.

Next is finding a set of axles the right length/splinecount. The gtrs axles are 22.5 iches fully compressed i believe. Ive been noticing most atvs have the bearings in the hub instead of the knucle. That may or may not matter as long as the splines are long enough to go through the gtrs knuckle and get a hub on it.

The parts dont have to be honda...in fact it dont matter what make/model as long as a proper diff/axle combo can be found. The goal is to find a combo of mostly junkyard or off the shelf parts that can be rettrofitted to our buggys cheaper than paying 4-600 bucks for the stock gtr axels or that 1200+ dollar upgrade kit from canada.

Any help/ideals would be awesome and help on various atv axle lengths would be great. This brainstorming came about after getting 2 gtrs recently and finding one with a broke centershaft and axle and the other has the centershaft twisted bad on both ends. The one with the broke shafts is going to be the irs donor for my crossfire build.

I would say that if there is enough material there I would have the carrier machined down to accept the 28MM bearing. You could sleeve it but that would be a thin sleeve and it might start walking after a while.

Do I understand you correctly? Are you going to try to run a LSD outside of a case? I would think that the dirt and lack of lubrication could be a problem.

Yes just the carrier. but dependind on the type of carrier you coud seal it fairly easy. Could also build a "hat" to go around it and fill with grease.

You should look at GManLV's IRS builds for his motorcycle engine driven buggies.

Ill check that out....Ok found a couple threads but they so old that pics dont work anymore and it seems like tons of post are missing from threads. Like there'll be 5 posts back to back from one person but whos ever post they're replying to aint there anymore.

I think i may have settled on a can am outlander front carrier. Im liking the looks of can am's visco lok lockers plus they are fairly cheap used. Now to get one and figure out bearings and axles.

Edit....Got the specs on the carrier

OD...29.9mm
21 splines
Length...137mm/5.4 in

Multiple options for 30mm bearings and 2/3/4 bolt flanges and they are cheap. Now to get axles figured out. Gtr spool looks to be roughly 7-8 inches bearing to bearing so will most likely need an axle an inch or so longer and may have to cut stock hangers out.

Whats to keep me from putting carter outer joints on a can am axle?

Ok so ive been thinking of another way to use the carter rear end and thats to shorten the A-arms a couple of inches and use a hammerhead 250 center axle and cv axles....The plus would be that i would be at hammerhead width as the carter is just to damn wide for where i ride. So would there be any down falls to just shortning the A-arms down enough to use hammerhead axles? Keep in mind that this rear end is going on the crossfire 400cc that im currently working on.

The live axle from a Carter GTR 250 and the one used on the Hammerhead 250 are not the same length. Also, on the GTR 250 you need 2 spots, one for the brake rotor and one for the sprocket, the one used on the Hammerhead only have one. you would also need to measure the distance between the 2 and be able to make it work.

When I did the research for the live axle kit, I did the same thing as you and it was easier to redo the rear end of the GTR 250 instead of using the one from the Hammerhead.

Not the same length will give you trouble with the CV Axle when the suspension swing. Unless you hit the sweat spot. If not, the CV Axle will get damage faster depending on the setup.

If you want to go this way, I can post you pictures and you will see the difference on your own. Don't buy it, I have the parts in my shop and I don't mind to share the info with you. If you think that could work for you, buy it after ...

Any info would be great. I do have a buddy that can shorten the stock A-arms or build me a new set for free but im interested in seeing what you did and any other ideals and pics would be great. But i was wondering about the difference in length between the carter and HH spools and i know the HH spool has the brake rotor on a separate hub.

Bottom got the GTR 250 parts and the top is a Hammerhead 250 SS / GTS. The centre hole for both are the same. As you can see I put the GTR 250 sprocket on the Hammerhead axle. The Hammerhead have a 4 bolts pattern and the GTR come with 5 or 6 depending on your machine.



Top is the live axle and bottom is the axle from the Hammerhead. On the GTR 250 you have a hub that float on the axle and you can line up in place. As you know the GTR 250 sprocket and brake rotor are on that hub. It will not work on the Hammerhead as you can't move it. Also, the axle is shorter and I can tell you from experience that the 2 bearings on the GTR to hook up the axle on the frame are inner of the splines. Let say you you install it, you will run out of splines to hoop up the cv axle UNLESS you change the place the axle hook up on the GTR 250. This cause the other problem that you will not be able to have both, sprocket and brake rotor on this axle.



Top CV Axle from the GTR 250 and bottom is the Hammerhead 250 SS.
As you know, the outer cv joint break and the splines level or so ... The outer cv joint shaft is in contact directly with the bearings and it break there. The Hammerhead 250 is better build as the outer cv joint shaft slip in the hub and the hub is in direct contact with the bearings. I tried to fix this problem as I was redoing the read end and that would of involve on making a new hub and different cv axle and the cost was crazy !!!!



The last picture is the outer CV joint. Top is the GTR 250 and bottom Hammerhead 250. Here comes another problem, the outer cv axle shaft is shorter than the GTR 250. How can you put it thru and get something to hook up on the other side. You won't be able to put the GTR 250 wheel hub and the castle nut.



I don't know which parts you want to use together but they are all there for both machines.

Sorry if I sound like an ... but I did the same thinking as you years ago. I posted that so you don't spend money on something that won't work. Well it could work but are you welling to spend that much time to make it work???

Nice pics and information MaxP. Thanks for posting it.

Excellent post man! Pics are awesome to and i belive i have a mental picture on how to use the hammerhead stuff now.

1. I have no problem moving the center bearing hangers in a little bit. Then i can use the complete HH center carrier...In theory at least.....Will have to redo caliper mount.

2. Replace the carter knuckle bearings with HH bearings and use HH hubs....I wonder about the thickness of the carter knuckles tho?....Can have my buddy build a set of knuckles if necessary. Will have to shorten A-arms regardless.

3. Labor and steel will be free. I keep his and his sons buggys alive and well and it pays off for stuff like this

Do you have the same comparisons with Joyner 250 parts?

Speaking of joyners...how wide are they in the rear?

Sorry, don't have any of those parts for the Joyner 250. Unless they cross reference with the Carter or the Hammerhead but I don't know.

Ok this is a comparison between the Hammerhead SS spool and axle verses the Joyner 250SV spool and axle. The Hammerhead being the shorter in both instances.