I have 1100 miles on my 08 800 Sportsman and have changed 2 now in the last 2 weeks...
I have changed many of them in the past using a vise grips and now have learned how to work with these plastic boots (not rubber) and the new clamps that you will not be able to remove unless you cut them off... Made a new tool from an old vise grips I had that was used as a brake line hold or something special...
I would not recommend changing them out on the trail...
Jon

 

Had the tool for the new clamps,BUT still were at times a little tough!(hard on my old hands to clamp) liked the older clamps better,but doesn't matter now. DON'T have to mess with em. OPT

 

Can you manufacture or purchase some guards???

 

OPT where can you buy the tool , guess I havent even seen one yet

 

replaced more then a few of cv boots and joints and they all sucked, but easier w/ the more i did. even boot guards really don't work that great when your in nastey stuff.
mywayout, i replaced that many plus joints on both of my 800's with less miles lol.

 

Yeah, I have been fortunate not to have too many things go wrong on the 08 800, but just recently they have rearing their ugly heads... Fuel Gauge... 2 CV Boots... Front Differential... Roll Pins working there way out... and I just cleaned the starter to prevent it from sticking in the winter... Looks like the teeth that engage on the fly wheel are starting to go... I have had the chance to rip it all apart and clean everything up which is a plus...
I will be keeping this one for some time...

 

Parts manager ordered a couple pair for me,I left them both at the shop when I left for the other two techs. They were made by Knipex. Looked like regular bull nose pliers,but had an outer lip and an inner lip on both sides of the pliers jaws that grabbed the new style clamps and locked em tight! OPT

 

I made my own tool from an old pair of Linesman pliers but I still couldn't get both of the new clamps on my 2008 Sportsman 500 on. I got both of the original clamps off but could not get the rear inner large clamp on. I made a few tools before I found one that worked well though so I boogered up the replacement clamp so much that I had to buy another one.

I ultimately just took the CV shaft to the dealer and had them put the large clamp on.

OPT - I would love to know what pair of knipex pliers you used. Do you think you could pick them out from here:

KNIPEX TOOLS LP Chicago, IL USA - Home

 

Called my parts man and said he ordered through Polaris/ SPX tools like I thought.(MAY not be Knipex brand??) The Polaris # is PU-48951 for STEPLESS type clamps.(Can see pliers online at spx polaris) Shows 91 bucks!!(probably can find cheaper??) Hope this helps

 

I have tried to modify a pair of big needle nose vise grips. I cut grooves to fit onto the new clamp but it wasn't possible to get enough pressure to close the clamp far enough. It closed the small (shaft side) clamp but not the big clamp.
The polaris tool looks like it has long handles shaped in a way to give extreme leverage so you can have enough power.

I ended up taking the shaft to polaris all ready to go. All they had to do was use their tool. In and out in 2 minutes. The 1 hour round trip sucked but at least they did it for free.