I`m doing a ball joint/u-joint replace,ment and have some play in the from "A" arm. My manual shows 2 scenarios. One has a shaft inside the arm the other shows bushings. Don`t want to be held up on this and want to know if replacing the shaft or bushings is the fix or does it need the whole arm assy?

 

Most of the time just replacing the bushings along with the spacers(if badly worn) solves the problem on wobble/play. Also the bushings were updated along with the shafts,but the original ones can be reused. If any damage has happened to the a-arm,then yes I'd replace it as an assembly(safety reasons!). Shafts can be reused on non damaged a arms. I mainly replaced bushings and spacers,quite a few of them during all the bushing changes Polaris had the dealers go through.Don't forget new bolts!! Dirt Cheap Yamaha, Honda, Arctic Cat & Polaris OEM Parts & Accessories – Cycle Parts Warehouse

 

Thanks OPT. I also would like to know the how you can get off 2 opposing bolts on the end of the A arm shaft or does the grease zerk lock the shaft in from turning? I just don`t want to get held up here as I can live with it but would be nice to fix it right while into it this far. Also would lock tite be acceptable for bolts?

 

Works best to break loose each arm bolt at the same time or risk having the shaft just spin if you try to take one bolt out at a time! Takes a socket on front side and a ratchet wrench(if you have it) speeds up loosening the other bolt. Once you're out about half way on each then you can remove one bolt and the other will just unscrew. Same on install,start one in a few threads,then the other and tighten both down snug. Grease zerk doesn't hold the shaft from spinning! P.S. an air impact gun and an air ratchet and socket on the inner side really speed up this process if you have both.