Does the front differential with the u joint drive shaft just slide out of engine on a 2005 arctic cat 500 tbx 4+4

 

I do not believe it does. The secondary drive shaft (as my book calls it) connects to a yoke that bolts to the end of the shaft coming out of the engine. There is a u-joint at the yoke.

I just replaced my u-joint ans front differential seals. To get the u-joint out I removed 3 of the 6 bolts that connect the shaft to the differential then I removes the 2-retaining clips on the caps of the u-joint. I used a small c-clamp to push out the u-joint caps. When it is free from the yoke you can tilt it down and to the side and remove it from the machine. I then placed it in my vice to get the other 2 caps out of the other half of the yoke. You can reinstall in reverse order.

I forgot to mention that the shaft is actually two parts now. they connect in a splined section under a small rubber boot. Clean and re-grease before you reinstall.

Sorry but I did not take any pictures of the process. I think the whole process took me about 1 hour.

Hope this helps.

Swampy