I have a 1997 sportsman 500 with 1900 miles on it. I had my tie rods looked at which seemed ok, tires have the correct error pressure, changed the drive belt, greased everything, changed oil, gas, coolant etc. 4 Wheel drive works all gears work etc. The problem I have is that when I start moving especially on pavement, my front end is jumping like crazy almost like you have a flat tire or it needs a front end alignment. A friend of mine looked at it who knows a bit about wheelers, but couldn't figure out what it was. The boots look good, no tears. The previous owner said it has always done this and no one can figure out what is causing it. Well sometimes i have to take the pavement to get to the trails and like I said a little would be fine, but it does it alot and drives me nuts. With low miles it just doesn't make sense so I am looking for any suggestions on what else to look at or check. Brakes are good too. when I get to a certian speed the jumpiness goes away. Anyways, if anyone has anything else I can look at or focus on, it would be much apprciated. Thanks Tank

 

welcome to the forum. does this happen only when your going straight or turning corners? are you sure the awd is not locked on? did you check the front wheel bearing to make sure there not wore out? did you jack it up on and try to watch to see what it's doing to help pin pooint it? just a couple of ideas.

 

Stendori,
Thanks for your response. I have not checked the wheel bearings. I figurd that since it only had 1900 miles on it they would still be good, but what do I know. I guess that will be the next thing to check. I jacked it up, ran it in 4wd 2wd etc and everything looked fine that is what is so strange about it. It happens when I am going straight right down the road. Right now the wheel bearings are the only thing I havenet checked. When checking them, what should I be looking for? I have a nice owners manual that I paid 40 bucks for that breaks everything down, but doesn't go into very much detail on what to look for, just how to replace a part. Anyways, thanks again and if you have any other thoughts, please send them my way.

 

The guy must of changed the drive axles if your 97 has cv boots be cause our 97 only had u-joints from the day we bought it new.

Here is a good link that explains the front wheels.http://www.atvtime.com/phpBB2/viewto...003&pc_t=12521

 

What about the gear ratio in the front compared to the back. Was somthing changed buy the previous owner and did'nt get the gearing right? I only say this because I know that on some of the older honda's with full time 4x4 the gear ratio was set up to to have a 1" smaller tire in front. If you tried putting the same size front and rear they would somtimes be a little jumpy up front on the road. I really doubt thats your problem on a polaris but somthing to think about.

 

Cant be the front wheels always free wheel unless the rear wheel slips 1/8 of a rotation. That cant happen on pavement.

 

Mine are all u joints. Front and back. I replaced one in the back so I know that. The tires on the back of my wheeler are wider than the front, but with 1900 miles and the look of the tires, I am guessing they are the orginal ones that came on it when the guy bought it. I have not checked the wheel bearings. The guy who owned it before me took care of it and always greased it etc. It just doesn't make sense how jumpy the front is. I will check the wheel bearings. Please keep in mind, I am learning as I go. I am slowly learning a lot about fixing things and the maual is really good. The other thing is that searching the web about the jumpy front has not produced a lot of information so that is why I had to start asking. It seems like it is not a common problem and since the previous owner said it has always done that, that is what really concerns me. Thanks again to everyone and still open for suggestions.

 

You threw me when you stated the boots looked good. If the tire are Good Year "P Trackers" then there original. Did you check for play on the front 4 u-joints?

 

I was pretty sure my buddy checked them, but I can do it again. I know the one in the back at the top where it connects to the rear drive shaft had very little play and my buddy thought it still should be ok. I will check the front ones just to make sure. I will check on the tires too. I can't remember what brand they were when I was checking the pressure.

 

I know you mentioned the tire pressure is good but what is it set at.
I have read some post about people having a similar feeling on pavement and it turned out to be there back tires were out of round. They lowered their pressure and it helped the problem.
This might be a similar problem but it's your front tires so you feel it more.
Try lowering the pressure or even swapping the tires and rims for someone elses to see if that might be the problem.
Good luck.