Yerf Dog 3206 eating front bearings.
 

Picked up a 3206 about a month ago and have been lurking around here trying to learn all I can. I am new to the buggy craze but it is safe to say my wife, my 2 year old, and myself are all hooked. My problem is this dog is chewing up front wheel bearings. I am replacing at least one bearing every two to three afternoons. :banghead: Our riding is not extreme off roading. It is mostly alley ways and open fields. The cart is all stock. The bearings are from Tractor Supply. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Do you have any pics of your buggy? and the problem area? I can't say off hand what the problem might be, I had the same bearings in mine until I switched wheels up front, never had a problem out of them.

Maybe your using the wrong bearings??

The stock wheels are small in diameter. This means the bearings get more shock and spin faster than if you had a larger wheel. Either upgrade your front wheels and tires to 19-22" or purchase better quality US, Japanese or European bearings that are sealed and rated for high speed.

I just bought a used Yerf Dog 3206 and after one week the passenger axle broke off the spindle. Welded it back on and the bearing shredded after a minutes riding. I'm not sure if the bearing went bad first and caused the spindle to break or my weld is bad. Regardless, I need to get new bearings now. What is the replacement part number for the bearings from Tractor Supply or elsewhere that you bought? Thanks!

Try to clean the axel with sandpaper before you install the wheel

Do you have any pics of your Yerf? do you know what generation it is? Are the front wheels stock or are they aftermarket ones?

For the stock the wheel bearings are 5/8" Id and 1-3/8" OD.

you do not want to get cheap low speed ones, they will fail after a week of hard riding. These are what I use on mine (my front hubs are not stock but these should fit the stock front rims also)... http://www.*************/item/High-Sp...38-600641-6980

Your bearing was probably failing and over heated the spindle bolt,with a small impact it would've snapped off. Please post a pic of your spindles as you may want to do a couple more things to make your repair permanent-instead of just a patch.

The good bearings have black plastic seals on each side and are located next to the PTO parts area in Tractor Supply. The cheap ones are the ones they put in wheel burros and have play in them. I just bought one today. First one I have replaced in gokart...it is 14 to 16 years old. Also, when installing, are you driving the bearing by the outside ring/race or hitting the center?

Thanks for the tips. Here are a couple of pics. I'm not sure of the generation - new to this carting thing but not for long! How do I tell? Based on these pics, do you think the bearings from BMI will do the trick. Btw, my c-ring tool doesn't have small enough attachments for these snap-rings, that's why I haven't removed what's left of the bearing.

Yep the Bearings from BMI should work just fine, and from the looks of your spindle you have a Gen 3 (even A-Arm, with built up spindle).

Eventually your gonna want to get some bigger wheels up front, and grab some new spindles, are build the stock ones up a little better like MSM said... If you don't want to fab some, there is a site has a nice pair for a decent price, and they have a life time warranty and you have a longer axle to space the wheels out on so they wont rub the frame when you turn (after doing mods to the rack-N-pinion for better turning radius).

All this will come in time, but for now the bearings I linked should work. Just do the measurements they should add up.

The BMI bearings, should be a short term cure. But the smaller the bearing, the more heat it generates, and eventually leads to failure. When you can, start investigating, upgrading the spindles and wheels, to larger axles, bigger bearings, and larger diameter tires.
You'll gain better ride, handling, and a marked increase in longevity of the parts. Guys like ckau, and metalstudman are a wealth of info on the Yerf dog, as I'm sure, there are severral others too! Check there older posts, look for build and modification stuff, they've done it all, from front to back. That yerf of yours can be turned into a real animal, with a little time and sweat.
Just don't get discouraged, as things will break or bend. When they do, follow these guys lead, and up-grade the problem area, then ride it till the next problem shows itself. In the end, you won't be having problems, only fun, one a buggy YOU have modified into a tuff off road machine.

Yep, that is one of the first things I would recommend, grabbing some hubs and getting some bigger front wheels.
change out the shocks,
eventually upgrade the spindles,
upgrade the rear axle,
beef up the rear swing arm,
beef up the front end (add 1/8-1/4" plates to the box to support the A-arms, heims on the ends of the A-arms, gussets on the mount's for the box)
reverse,
not in that particular order...
I think that's about it, I'm sure I might have left a couple things out.

All of this over time will cost about 400-600 bucks, the most expensive mod I've done to date was changing out my rear axle after it broke, cost just about 2 hundred.

Thanks everyone. Picked up a couple bearings at Tractor Supply, put them on, and we're off and running. I will need to adjust my tie rods because my weld wasn't perfectly straight. Going to run a few weeks like this and then dig in to some of the suggestions for beefing it up. Fun times are to be had again!

It's all fun. I enjoy working on and modifying them, as much as driving. Gives a sense of accomplishment.