I've been told many times a chain tensioner is great for jumps and reducing the number of times one has to tighten its chain. I'm also told it will make your chain and sprockets last much longer, and dramatically reduce the risk of its chain coming off its sprockets. Especially during jumps.

I received "PART # ATVCT92S" from http://www.hpd-inc.com/misc.html last night and immediately noticed its internal documentation stated this part is for a "Sportsman, Scrambler and 90 Predator". Sure hope they update their web site with the Pred-90 model info soon. That would reduce web page reader confusion.

Like most of us with a new part, I went into immediate action. It bolted on perfectly to our '03 Pred-90 unit. The top of its chain is also tight and no longer rubs on the top of its factory Swing Arm bar (with NO
rider is on it). One thing I don't like about this specific chain tensioner is you have to remove its under axle factory chain guard. We do lots of logs and rock riding as well and without the factory guard, its chain or back sprocket might get damaged. In the spring (after our snow season is finished), I'll take another look at the factory chain guard and see if it can be adapted to fit - with this specific part.

Other then a guard modification (if you feel you need an under axle guard), this chain tensioner seems to work great. We were out for a 2 hour run this morning and we didn't hear its chain "tang" once. We do lots of jumps & sharp corners with our Pred-90, and this part number seems to work great.... Long term usage in our unique trail environment will put this customized part through a full test....

Hope this helps others too...

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zgirl2,

Welcome back. I've noticed you've been offline for a while. Hopefully everything is going ok in your side of the woods. I sent 4 .jpg pictures of our installed HPD chain tensioner to your internet email id. If you were planning on installing this chain tensioner on your Pred-90, these pictures will give you an AFTERWARDs visual.

If anyone else wants these same pictures, send me an email or PM (via the lock icon at the bottom of this posting) with your internet email id. I haven't figured out how to install / link pictures on this forum. As they say, a picture is worth 1,000 words. Then, 4 .jpg pictures must be worth 4,000 words. As you can tell, I've lost it again...

Hopefully, this will help...

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Thank you Spike,

I am going to check them now. I would like to get a hold of roaddoc I sent him a pm about a predator 90 on ebay not to far from him. The price looks good, so hopefully he will be on here sometime soon and get a chance to check it out.

 

HPD Chain Tensioner & factory chain guard update:

A few moments ago, I headed into my garage and adapted its factory chain guard to fit with the HPD Chain tensioner. As I was looking at the chain guard, I immediately noticed a big inward dent on its underside. Without a factory chain guard on our '03 Pred-90 unit, the hard item that made that big of dent would have easily broken its back sprocket.

To modify the '03 Pred-90 factory guard, here's the steps I used:
1 - Get a piece of thin cardboard and hold agains the inward side of the factory chain guard. Mark around the outside and use scissors to cut the image out.
2 - Hold the duplicate cardboard in place - under the Pred-90 unit. Ensure you line up the bottom hole and use a pencil and scissors to make it fit into place. Ensure you leave approx 1/2" space where the HPD roller moves up/down.
3 - Hold the reformed thin cardboard against the factory chain guard and mark what needs to be cut. The hole is approx 2.5" by 3.5".
4 - Use a jigsaw with a steel bit or grinder, cut the marked area away.
5 - Fit the modified chain guard and ensure it fits without touching the HPD chain tensioner. For me, I had to do a little more curve corner trimming with a hand grinder.
6 - After you think it should fit, drill another support hole in the factory chain guard. To my surprise, there's another drilled / threaded hole on the axle hub. It's under the axle area and its very hard to see. I'm not too sure why Polaris spent the time to create a threaded hole and didn't use it.
7 - Install the chain guard. For the extra support hole you drilled in step 6, use the factory bolt you removed when you installed the HPD Chain tension.
8 - After its all bolted together, have a heavy person jump up / down on the seat to ensure there's enough movement space for the HPD tensioner. I asked my wife to jump up / down on the seat but she wasn't heavy enough to test the full compression movements. A tether strap can also be used to test HPD tensioner movement under full suspension compression.

For the above, it took me a little over 1 hour to complete. To save an back sprocket on our long trails, it's well worth it.

If you want pictures of our modified factory chain guard, send me a PM with your internet email id. .JPG pictures can't be sent using this forum's text based email portal system.

For those who don't want to perform this chain guard modification, I'm hoping someone will investigate / confirm if an '04 Pred-90 Chain Tensioner and factory chain guard will fit onto an '03 unit. My closest Polaris dealer lives over 45 minutes away and every time I'm available for a drive, he's closed.

Hopefully, this will help others with an '03 Pred-90.

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I will get to my dealer tomorrow and report back....ty for the pics Spike.

 

Here's the info I've discovered so far....

The '03 Pred-90 does NOT come with a factory chain tensioner.
The '03 Pred-90 comes with a steel plated chain guard. The chain guard is thick steel and in a way, could be considered a "skide plate" protector for its chain and rear sprocket.

The '04 comes within a factory chain tensioner.
The '04 comes with a protector for its rear sprocket. This is a bar shaped protector.
The '04 does NOT have chain guard.

The '03 Pred-90 Swing Arm has a different part number then the '04 Swing Arm.
No one has confirmed if the '03 factory chain guard will fit onto an '04 unit.
No one has confirmed the '04 chain tensioner will fit onto the '03 unit. Being a different part number, odds are it won't fit properly.

If you feel you need a chain tensioner on your '03 Pred-90, the best approach is to purchase / install the HPD Chain Tensioner and modify its factory chain guard. See my previous steps in the above posting.

If you want to install a chain protector on your '04 Pred-90, use a thick cardboard to build a mold (much like the factory chain protector on the '03 Pred-90) then take the mold and your '04 unit to your local welder guy. Also bring along a few pictures of the '03 factory Chain Guard and tell him you want something built "just like that!!!". If he/she does engineering designs, fabrication and welding (like my local welder guy), he'll easily make one up for you. Probably for the same price as purchasing a factory chain guard for an '03 unit, and making it fit on your '04 unit. If you need pictures of our modified '03 factory chain guard, PM me with your internet email id. I'll send you some .jpg pictures of it.

After driving our '03 Pred-90 in our 4" - 6" of snow during the last couple of days, I can clearly see the marks in the snow from its brake drum and chain guard protector. Since 4" - 6" is our usual depth of mud & water and if a solid rock was under the mud, there would be lots of damage WITHOUT a chain guard on our unit. Not to mention lots of sticks, mud and other crap getting onto its chain and tensioner area.

If you trail ride in simular mud & sticks conditions, I would highly recommend a chain tensioner, a chain guard and rear sprocket guard be installed on your unit. These items are well worth the risk of preventing expensive damage to your drive chain system - not to mention the pain of a long tow home.

Hope this helps....

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i took the chain guard off my kids 90 preditor, the only thing u have to watch for is getting something in the chain to make it tighten up, like sand that has happened to his.

 

predator would like to have pictures of spring tensioner spring on 2005 polaris predator