Guys
I have a 98 400 Xplorer with 1300 trouble free miles. This weeekend I went to Wolf Pen Gap{awesome trails} for a 3 day ridding trip.
I have had a little slack{side to side} for a long time in my steering but not enough to bother me. Well this weekend,after some VERY hard ridding/jumping,I noticed that I now have about 1/2 to 1 inch slack{up and down} in my handlebars. When I pull up on the handlebars the whole steering shaft will move up and down.
The bolt on the bottom of the steering shaft is tight so Im guessing that the bushing is gone. Does that sound right?
How hard is it to change? I do all of my own work but it looks like it would be a bitch to change the bushing. I may let my dealer do this one.

Any comments or advise will be appreciated.

Andy G

 

If you have up and down slack it is probably the rubber washer that has pushed out of place. Below your lower steering stem bushing ther is a washer, a rubber washer, another washer then the nut. I have the same up and down slack in mine. I noticed the washer was getting bad when I replaced the bushing but I was ready to get it back together.

To answer your question, yes the bushing is a pain to get to on a liquid cooled machine but if you have access to a small 90 degree drill or a Drtemel toll with the flexible shaft it sholdnt be too bad. the hardest part it that the 1/4" bolts that come with the aftermarket bushings are a little bigger than the original rivet holes so the holes must be drilled out. There isnt enough room for a regular size drill to get in there straight.

I would suggest that if you think the bushing is bad, order one from RCR, its real nice aluminum with a brass insert, and at the same time, get one of the rubber washers from your Polaris dealer and replace them at the same time. This would be a good time to flush your cooling system since you have to remove the radiator to get to the bushing.

 

I garuntee your bushing is bad. I rode the snot out of my Sport when I first got it, and mine lasted 3 weeks tops. Up and down movement of the stem is exactly what Pflect described, the spacer washers have worn into nothing.

Fixing this problem is a no-brainer, very easy. If you gas up your own quad, you can do it. Get the brass bushing, your dealer might sell them, mine does. Also, I would install the new style tie-rod-ends while your at it, I would bet those are shot too. The whole process replacing both items might take you 2-3 hours. Plus, you'll learn more about your quad in the process.

 

Yup. Same thing with my 98 Sportsman 500; loose steering, and the column would move up & down.

I ordered the HPD steering bushing. I cleaned up the quad before starting to work on it and found the rubber washer had split and was laying on the frame. The washer is an inexpensive part, none of the local dealers had any in stock, and I couldn't wait for a special order; I had a ride that weekend. Luckily, one dealer *gave* me the washer off of a wrecked quad they had for parts. So ... you might want to check that washer and see if you need to order a new one before you take the quad apart.

I didn't have an angle-drill, so I had to remove the front rack, plastic, and fuel tank to be able to get in there with a drill. That added another day to the project!

 

Thanks for the info guys. Sounds like you have been there and done that...lol I just called my local dealer and he said that it would cost $144 for labor and $35 for an aftermarkt brass bushing.I'll check the rubber washer this weekend but for 200 bucks I may just do the whole job myself.

Thanks Again
Andy G

 

I have a stupid question to go along with this discussion. I have the exact same symptoms here --- the side to side play, and now, after today, the 1/2 of up and down slop in the steering shaft.

How long can i get away with riding like this before getting it repaired? I figure I will take it easy until I get the HPD Steering Post Bearing, but can my steering totally fail if this isn't fixed?

Also, one other question. Is the rubber washer to cure the up/down play the best solution, or do you guys have any other ideas of a more "permanent" fix to this problem, so I'm not doing this again a few months down the road?

Brian

 

i had a problem with my steering that sounded something like everyone is talking about but it was the rivets that hold the lower bearing in. i simply replaced them with a few 1/4, 20 bolts

 

I replaced that lower steering bushing with the aluminum one about 1 month after I got the quad, I just didn't like the look of the stock one..next is to find a good UPPER steering bushing..