We finaly put the new rear boot (boot closest to tire) on the Sportsman. Right before we did it I was looking at our friends Xplorer 500. It has no boots in the rear, it uses u-joints. WHY DID THEY CHANGE? I hate boots.... Anyway, what is that center boot for anyway on the Xplorer drive shaft?

This is another one of those things where you go through heck doing it the first time, and the second time it shouldn't be any problem at all.

I know I said I would take pictures, but we got into it and never looked back. I will do my best to help anyone who needs it though.

The first thing we did was pull hub by removing the hub nut, pretty simple, but the factory had it on TIGHT. Next we unhooked the hub from the lower a-arm, and top a-arm & disconnected the sway bar.

You should be able to freely move the bub up & down, left & right, and slightly pull it forward & backward (there is play where the shaft goes in by the gear case). The next thing we did which may not be neccasry buy made things a lot easier, was pull the shaft (by jerking towards us hard) out of the gear case. It will pop right out with some force, but won't anything? :-) Keep in mind this isn't where the shaft goes into the boot, but actualy the gearcase.

Then we stuck the shaft in a vise and pulled the "outer-layer" of the hub off. I don't know what it's called. We took off the old boot clamps & cut off the old boot. We then cleaned all the old grease out that we could.

After banging & slamming, and the shaft still not popping out of the hub where it slides in by the bearing, we didn't know what to do. I guessed there was a snap ring, but we couldn't find one. We called the dealer and talked to the mechanic. He said he has never changed the boot on the rear of a Sportsman, and the micro-fiche is too blurry to read. They said they would call Polaris and get back to us. Oh well, we slammed some more, and didn't want to wait until next week.

We finaly figured out that there was a snapring, hidden under the grease. We loosened it, and pulled the shaft right out. We cleaned it up, and put the small end of the new boot on. The stuck the shaft back in (snap-ring in place) and stuffed the grease into the bug & boot. We put the big end of the boot on and tried the clamps.

We found out both clamps were too small, and that they gave us the wrong boot kit. YES! I swear the local dealer can't do anything right.... We put it on anyway & used the clamps from the old boot.

Then be slid the "outer-layer" of the hub back on and slid the end of the shaft back into the gear case. Hooked up the a-arms & sway bar again, and put the hub/wheel/tire back on.

I can say that we never though we would finish. This was tough, and harder to figure out than the front boots. It took 1 1/2 days. If we had to do it again, we could do it pretty fast, but the first time is a lot of guessing!

I don't think I missed anything, but I am playing by memory. If you have any questions, ask, just in case I forgot somthing.

Next time I will get pictures.

 

Adam,
Sounds like you had fun!!.. Is this on your Dads NEW Sportsman?.. If so, how did he tear one that fast?. Ya know i've NEVER checked mine .. it might not have any grease in it? How do ya'll keep tearing them so often? Have either of you installed Oxlites or Stick-Stoppers yet?..
I'm seriously thinking about taking mine apart and either replacine the boots and a fresh shot of grease, OR.... (Brace yourself) I have been toying with the idea of yanking the entire 4wd system out. Aleast pulling all the hardware and making my OWN Scrambler 500 2wd since Polaris won't.
I might leave the electronics on the handlebars and under the hood, but pull the chains, gears, front shafts, hubs...etc..
Who knows, maybe I should wait till I buy another machine.. this might get time consuming.

 

quad man,
when you pulled the shaft out of the gear case, where did it exactly come apart? There is a gear and bearings inside the inner boot, closest to the gear case. Is this where it came apart, or did the whole CV assembly come free from the gear case? From what I can gather of your description, your inner boot never came unclamped at either end. Is this true? I tried pulling the driveshaft from the gear case, but I didn't like the idea of slamming on the bearings inside the CV joint. Besides, it didn't look like the joint even budged from the gear case. Your procedure is probably what I need to do to change the inner boot. From what you saw, is this what I need to do?

 

when you pulled the shaft out of the gear case, where did it exactly come apart? There is a gear and bearings inside the inner boot, closest to the gear case. Is this where it came apart, or did the whole CV assembly come free from the gear case?

Let me see how to explain this... The whole assembly comes free. I am not sure exactly how to explain it, but it comes out. You really don't have to take it out if you don't want to, but it makes things easier. I really need a picture to explain it, sorry I didn't get one.

From what I can gather of your description, your inner boot never came unclamped at either end. Is this true?

Correct, if you are calling the inner boot the boot by the gear case.

I tried pulling the driveshaft from the gear case, but I didn't like the idea of slamming on the bearings inside the CV joint.

Neither did we. A snap ring keeps the shaft in the CV-joint, so it shouldn't come out. I am suprised we didn't damage the bearings on ours, we beat it hard, before figuring out we were doing it wrong. There things are stout!

Besides, it didn't look like the joint even budged from the gear case.

It won't look like it's moving until it finaly gives and pops out. It's almost like it just plugs in. There is a ring in there that keeps it from sliding out easy, when you pull it hard it sort of compress'es the ring so the shaft can slide out. I thought there might be a tool to compress the ring, but you can't get to it until the shaft is out anyway.

Your procedure is probably what I need to do to change the inner boot. From what you saw, is this what I need to do?

From what I can tell, that's right. I hope I understand it. Good luck, any more Q's ask me.


[This message has been edited by quad_man (edited 10-03-1999).]

 

Robert,

It was the Sportsman. Somthing like a boot, it doesn't matter if it's 12 years old or brand new, it just happens. Our '88 Suzuki 4x4 has only gone through 2 front boots, 1 per side, and no rear boots.

I had Cycle Country guards, they suck. They took so much cutting & grinding to make them fit, I wonder how they can even advertise they for the model. It wasn't even close!

I saw you Ox-Lites on the Scrambler, they look good. Definatly the best I have seen so far. I ordered the Cycle Country because in the picture they were aluminum & chrome-like looking. They contoured well, looked slick. When I got them it looked like somthing someone made in shop class, and a low budget class. I eventually took them off because sticks, mud, rocks, etc. would get stuck on top of the a-arm guard that's what ate up my 2 front boots. I took the guards off & no problems. The Ox-Lites look like they would keeo sticks from piling up as easy too, since they are taller the deflect more. I am still worried about stuff piling up though. I don't know if he will get them or not, but I probaly won't buy another set.

You should check those boots! Does yours even have them? I didn't look on the front of the Xplorer. Why did they change from u-joints. After owning a Polaris for a little, I appreciate the geasing. I like knowing that everything is ok, and wish i had u-joints! There must have been some sort of long term problem with them I guess.

Back on topic... On our Suzuki we tore the boot a few years ago and didn't change it until it messed everything up. It ran dry of grease, started binding, and we had to buy new shafts for the front. That was, a lot of money. Enough that if it was my machine I would have pulled the shafts out and ran 2wd for a while.

You shouldn't need to change the boots unless they are tore, leaking, or somthing else. You can still find '80s 4wds with stock boots. You might want to check the grease for water though, even though I know you avoid water. :-)

Why make it 2wd? YOU ARE MUD MACHINE!!!! And what would really gain? Maybe better wheelies, but that's about it. If you wanted to race it then I guess it might help, less weight is better. I looked at mine, it doesn't look to difficult to remove the shafts. Good luck on the hubs.

I would wait until you get a new machine. Just think Magnum 500, those sure look nice! A few times I wished I had got one.

Anyone notice I am typing a lot?

 

Talking about greasing,the CV boots why couldn't you get needle and syringe like vet uses.You could poke through rubber and fill with grease,hole would almost self seal'being so small.We use this all time to shoot glue in bubbles in vinyl floors,wors great,glue same consistantsie grease.

Later COB

 

quad,
one more thing. Does the cv joint snap back into the gear case pretty easily? Do you think it will be as water proof as before?

 

It took a little push, but then it popped back in. I guess it will be just as water proof, I see no reason it shouldn't be. When you pull it out you aren't actualy exposing the inside of the cose, and you can't see the gears or anything.

If the boots didn't tear so easy, I would like them better than u-joints. But we do a lot of off-the-trail riding and they are in brush a lot.

 

First thing I'm going to do after changing this damn boot is find a good pair of boot guards! I don't want to go thru this again.

 

Adam,
Oh TRUST ME... After lookiing REALLY close at a new Foreman 450S.. Im DEFINITELY buying a Magnum 500. This one is gonna be tricked out before it ever sees its first mudhole though. Basically, go thru the Highlifter catalog and find every "kit" for the Magnum that makes it bigger, badder, faster, and meaner than everything else in the free world, then THATS whats gonna be on it.
On axle subject, My Scrambler has CV joints out by the hubs and U-joints on the inside.
About removing the 4wd stuff, there will also be a SERIOUS engine rebuild and heavy modifications (and a trip to Jenny Craig) to go 400EX and Banshee stalkin'. Think about it, some DirtWheels foller will have his 400ex out-gunned by a "Junky-A$$ed Polaris"
Sorry about using that particular term, but I heard that about 100 times one night until I humiliated the guy that kept saying it.
Boy, I got WAY WAY WAY off the subject on that one... Sorry!!!