A buddy of mine has sportsman 500, I think its a 1998 and has went through three sets of the auto locking hubs on the front. he has had the proper maintenance done and keeps getting the run around from the dealer. And was wondering if anyone made any aftermarket ones for it.

 

Only replaced two hub componetes in 13 years, both due to no oil in the hubs. I wonder if your friend is engaging the AWD switch while the rear wheel are spinning looking for traction? I hear that could tear things up all though I have never seen it happen.

 

Is he doing the work himself?

If so, does he understand that you torque the hub bolt in inch/pounds not foot/pounds? Also, you have to be very careful that the armature plate is installed properly before torquing the hub bolt. Could he have stretched the spring allowing it too engage at unsafe RPMs?

Just curious. I ride fairly hard, and have never broken a Hub.

Greg

 

I only saw one Polaris with hub trouble. It was run with wrong oil in it. I think they used gear oil of some sort. Mine have 3400 miles no trouble, but I probably use the 4x4 feature less than most.
Farmr

 

Hey guys,
I was doing routine maintenance on my 00 Xplorer today and found the right side hub with NO hub oil in it?Whats up with that?I can see NO leakage anywhere.I just changed both hub oils about 3 months ago and check the oil level about 2 months ago.Can anyone lead me to the possible cause of this problem?Thanks to all,
Bill

 

Bill: The same happened to mine. There is so little oil that I didn't detect a leak, just an oil film. I replaced my seal and it leaked out in about 100 miles. Next time I replaced the wear sleeve and have no problems since.

 

What is a wear sleeve?

My 98 Leaked once, and I disassmbled the hub, and cleaned the inside seal. I then coated it with a little axel grease and reassembled and never expereinced another problem.

Greg

 

A wear sleeve is simply a sleeve around a shaft. If it ever gets a groove worn into it, you just replace the sleeve, not the whole shaft. The sleeve mentioned is what the sealing lip rides against. Often, when a seal goes bad, it will have grooved the sleeve, making the new seal leak much sooner than normal.
Farmr

 

Chopper Bill,thanks for the information.I will read my Polaris repair manual and get into the hub unit soon,
Bill

 

A friend of mine up north has a polaris sportsmen 400. We were going on a ride and stoped at a gas station. One of us saw some leakage from the back of the hub. The hub fluid was dripping out on to the inside of the tire. There is a seal back there
I guess. so check back there to. We found that the hub was dry. We filled it and it was ok all that day but he did have to take it apart and fix it.

rangerchet