I ruined a CV joint on my Grizzly. I could roll the quad around in neutral and the CV joint wouldn't make a sound. Once I got on it and put it in gear it made the most horrific popping noise I ever heard. The race was cracked and I guess it needed to be under a load before it started making a noise.

I wanted to post this because just putting the quad up on jacks and turning the tires over, even with the quad running, is not a good enough check to make sure the CV is good.

I would also recommend buying a CV boot and not making one like thedoc suggested. This joint has to flex a lot and if you attemt to make a boot for it chances are it is going to either rip or come off eventually.

I think I would either pack the CV with grease and drive it slowly around the yard to check for noises or just take the CV joint off and clean it real good with some brake cleaner to get all of the grease out, disassemble it, and inspect if very closely. Check for cracks or small pieces of metal missing from the race, look for any rust from water getting in there, and also check the ***** for any flat spots or imperfections although those ***** are pretty tough. It's usually the race that gets damaged.

Trust me, the last thing you want to do is perform a half a$$ inspection and then have the CV joint start giving you trouble out on the trail. It has happened to most of us and if it ever happens to you because you were trying to save time, work, or just a few dollars I guarantee you won't let it happen again. :-)

 

I agree thats the normal way, and the way I just did on my own Polaris

but bloke was saying

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I am gunna ride it around the nighborhood a bit on tuesday and listen for a squeek. then I'll see what happens with the boot or CV joint.
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so I was suggesting a middle of the road way better than trying to work out where a squeack might be cumin from while actually riding the bike, deciding to take it all apart and finding squeak is somewhere else