I have been working for the past several hours now on attempting to replace a torn upper boot on my 05 sportsman 700. I am down to the actual cv joint itself and cannot get the snap ring out. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to do this the correct way? Thanks

 

You use snap ring pliars.

 

You need to run your finger up the ball track until you feel a bump. That will be the retaining clip that goes around the inside of the cv joint and keeps the ball and cage from pulling out. Use a small flat head screw driver to pry it out. Once it's removed pull the shaft and the shaft, cage, race, and ***** will pull out easily (make sure to have a rag handy, grease and ***** will be all over the place[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]). If you need any help PM me.
Danny
"thecvman"

 

Oh, silly me. I forgot on the Polaris rear inner race has the exposed clip on the inner race. You'll want to get reversible snap ring pliers. The best ones I found came from Mcmaster Carr (mail order in NJ). They were $23 but they work great! And I use them a lot.
Danny

 

Had to do this on my 700 also. Took some pouding, but basially it is swaged on from the factory in a position that you cannot remove (at least I couldn't) get the pliars into the grove... you have to pound the race (CV housing with bearings removed) back into the shaft with an oversized socket. This pushes the thing back just a scosche more so you have then made enough room so you can get at the ring. After replacing the boot, put some red lock tight back on the splines when putting back together... good luck.

 

you dont have to remove the inner joint. take the outer joint off. all you have to do is hold the axle and bump the outer joint off with a rubber hammer or a piece of wood. then you can slide both boots off on that one side. theres no snap ring or clip you have to fool with on the outer joint. you just bump it off. i dont know what it is about the polaris boots but the rip quite often. i tore 7 boots in 300 miles on the 700 i had. i now have 210 miles on my vinson and no torn boots. i ride all the same places and no problems.

 

I agree with you on this in most cases. However, on the Polaris rear axle both cv joints are held on the shaft by a clip that is exposed when you pull the boot back. If you spread the clip open the joint will slide right off. The key is to have the correct tool to spread the clip. If you try hitting this type of joint off without spreading the clip you risk damaging the part of the race that holds the clip onto the inner bearing race. I've seen this happen hundreds of times. PM me and I'll send pictures if you'd like.
Danny
"thecvman"

 

Wow, there sure is a lot of confusion here about this subject. In the first place, I’d like to know just where you find an “upper” CV boot. It’s either front or rear, inner or outer on my machines. Other than that there’s some good advice here, especially from Danny and 2c3. It’s just that one of you us talking about the front and the other is talking about the rear, two very different procedures.

To the person who began this thread, with so many here eager to offer advice, being a little more specific will help get you a correct answer.

 

Floodrunner,
You are correct. I've been asked for this so many times that I know what people are referring to is the inner cv joint. And on the 2005 Polaris 700 they changed the front axles to have a plunge type joint just like on the rear. So the procedures I described would apply to either the front or rear inner cv joint (a/k/a "upper" closes to the differential). I hope I haven't confused anyone, I'm just trying to help.
Thanks,
Danny
"thecvman"