i just received the bottom steering arm bushing from rick ritter and installed it. it made a world of difference in the slack in my steering.if i could only get one made for the top! took me about 2 hours to change it.

 

What does rick ritter charge for his bushing? Does it come with a grease jerk fitting?

 

They are $35, give or take a buck. It uses the existing zerk on your steering stem. It is a must have item on all Polaris', seeing that the stock one goes bad after about a month.

 

I have some questions on changing the bushing:

1. What all has to be removed (I will be doing this on a trail boss)

2. Does the entire shaft have to be removed, or just loosened?

3. What all comes with the kit from RCR?

Thanks if anyone can shed some light on my questions. When did Polaris decide a plastic steering bushing was a good idea? My 98 Magnum has zero slack in the bushing and my wifes 2000 trail boss already has 1/2 inch of play. Somebody at Polaris is getting that bushing back with a nasty gram attached!!!

 

On my Sport, I had to,

remove the handlebars

remove upper bushing

remove inner tie-rod ends

remove junk stock bushing. Drill rivets out, I used a Dremmel tool because of the close quarters.

install new brass bushing.

grease a couple inches of the steering stem at the bottom. I had to use a hammer and a block of wood to tap the stem back through the new bushing, it's a tight fit.

put tie-rod ends back on, re-install handlebars. Steering will be extremely tight for the first couple of hours.

 

The grease zerk is in the shaft, not the bushing... On the Scrambler, I removed the castle nut on the bottom of the shaft, unbolted the inner rod ends, unbolted the upper bushing, and lifted up, the handlebars and steering post will move enough to gain access to the bushing.
As for that bushing, its the wimpiest P.O.S. LOSER (HEAR ME POLARIS... LOSER!!!.. CRAP, JUNK, WORTHLESS, DUMB, STUPID, CHEAP, "What tha HELL were ya thinkin" Design i've ever seen)
To remove it, I would HIGHLY suggest a Dremel tool with the flexshaft, it makes life simple. The rivet holes are also slightly smaller than the supplied 1/4 inch bolts. So you will need to enlarge the holes slightly. Don't forget to install the o-rings....

 

Mudmachine and Quadfather

Thanks for the info on changing the bushing. This project will probably need to happen before spring comes. Riding is pretty much over for my season.

P.S. Mudmachine, don't be afraid to let us know what you think of the steering stem bushing LOL

 

They are a step ahead of you...all new models have the new and improved ones...

 

It's about time.