My 2004.5 500HO Sportsman has been making a weird noise in the rear. I cleaned it up yesterday and started to look for a problem.

I found that my rear axles were very loose where they spline in the gear case. I pulled them out and the splines on the axle shafts and the gear case were worn out. They are worn so badly it most likely will not last another ride or two before they strip out completely.

I have been working on Polaris ATV's since 1992 and I have never seen this problem on a sportsman before. I have pulled the rear axles out of many of these while installing boots and I never seen the splines worn out.

My quad only has about 2800 miles on it. I avoid the huge mud holes and I don't ride hard. I keep it clean.

I am pissed because I will now have to buy almost $600 worth of parts and tear down the gear case.

Has anyone else had this problem?

 

Never hard of it, but I guess anything is possible. So, this is on the inboard? Wow, atleast you KNOW it is not your fault( ie, axle nut too loose)

 

Hey, was the clip in place and in good shape? I guess, if it were broken or missing, that would cause excessive linear movment and wear things out quicker!

 

cornbread we have seen the cv joint strip/wear the splines out but not the case. do you run yours with alot of preload on the springs? just thinking maybe an extreme angle out of the case would cause some wear issues. i would replace them with some gorillas if it were mine.

 

Is there a lift kit on the ATV?
Are larger than 26 inch tires on the ATV?

Lift kits and larger tires seem to be very detrimental to the durability of drive trains on the rear of Sportsman models.

 

No lift kit. EVERYTHING is 100% box stock including the tires. The clips were good.

Preload is set about mid range.


I was told the gorillas did not come with the inner shaft. Is this true?

 

Gorilla shafts are ready for install, with both cv's and boots already on it!

 

I could not get into their website. How much are their Polaris axles?

 

2004 parts

Now if I read this right is it $280 for both axles?

 

Call LA Ramp @ 1-866-295-8761. Around $350 ea. including shipping!