I just replaced my balljoints in my 06 sportsman 500 and cant grease them.the grease starts pressing them back out.i can see the difference in the back end of the ball joint that is causing the problem.i got oem part#7061158 and I look it up and get the same # it looks like these require a groove vertically in the housing to allow grease to pass through a hole in the side of the ball joint where as my old ones came in through the top.has anyone else had this issue that have a different part#?

 

Replacement ball joints for the older machines that have zerk fittings are supposed to be "Life time greased" for whatever that's worth. Some have altered the ball joints to accept grease. Here's what one guy that owned a Ranger did.
"The OEM joints are greasable - and had grease in them. The grease fitting allows grease to be injected into a void above the ball joint, and there's a hole in the top of the joint.

The new joint didn't have a hole, so I drilled a hole in the top of it to allow grease to get in there. I also greased the bottom portion of the joint by hand, and filled the rubber boot with grease before I installed it.

I haven't taken this thing through much at all, if it went through any water then it was barely enough to get it wet. It probably got wetter from driving after rain than from driving through water."

 

that sucks.what reason could they possibly have for doing that?that will be on my mind every time I go into a mudhole.the new one does have a hole in the top in the center.i was thinking of making a groove on the outer edge to get the grease there.problem is the grease wont go into the joint,otherwise it wouldn't keep pushing it out.im really disappointed with Polaris on this one.there is no such thing as a suspension joint that doesn't need to be greased.the lifetime just gets a lot shorter.maybe next they wont put valve stems in the rims.

 

People have been griping about this since about 2007 or 2008 I think? when they started doing this.On my first one that I was greasing,I looked for the grease fitting on the strut and there wasn't one there. Found another post on this as to what another owner did..

"The grease-able ball joints have a hole at the back center of the ball joint, they are not directional and there is no alignment, Polaris sells a ball joint tool but i made my own out of a 1.25 watter pipe about 3 inches long and a cap on one side, drill a hole in the middle of the cap and screw the cap on the pipe, Use a 5 inch piece of thread all and drill and tap on side with a 3/8x24 tap, that threads on to the ball joint, put a 5/8 nut on the thread all and tighten it to the cap, the ball joint pulls right out, as for the ball joints, they all have been superseded with a grease less ball joint that uses a Teflon insert, i did carefully drill the back of my new ones so they can be greased as they where a little bit, you have to be careful when you grease them because the grease can try to push the new ball joint out, the only grease-able ball joints out there are the heavy duty ones that EPI sells. If you find grease-able joints from Polaris they will be old stock." Don't know if this helps or not..

 

ill check on the epi joints.sounds like the way to go.its funny how many ways I see people doing the r&r on these.i have an old a arm I use.i remove the strut assembly and the bjoint retainer,then put the a arm on hand tight with the castle nut and hit the arm with a 3lb.hammer.3 or 4 hits usually does it.i reinstall it with a 13/16 spark plug socket.it fits perfect and the rubber grommet fits snug on the stem and keeps it centered.pops em right in/

 

I just changed mine and I think the grease fitting is there so that you can push out the old ball joint with a grease gun.
Crazy how well it works.

 

Yep,once you remove the retainer plate that holds the ball joint in you can force them out under pressure. Pity I didn't think of that after all the years I used the factory puller on them..

 

i actually lengthened the grease channel in the back of the strut housing with a dremel so the grease can enter the new ball joint.only problem is the new joint has no grease channel so you have to grease it slowly so the grease doesn't push out the new joint.im hoping as it wears in it will grease like it used to

 

Good idea.. Looks like that might help.