I am working on a 1997 sportsman 500, and I noticed the rear u joint on the front prop shaft is real loose and worn.
Is this a replaceable part, or do I need to replace the whole shaft.

Also, how does it disconnect from the output shaft of the transmission. It appears to just be splined and should slide off, but I don't think the previous owner ever greased it and now it is rusted & won't budge. I have been soaking it with a penetrating oil to help loosen.

Thanks in advance.

 

The front of the shaft has a drift pin you have to knock out with a punch, the rear is just splined-you'll have to work at it.

 

U-Joints are replacable.

The tranny output end is splined. Usually if they are not greased they wear out the splines and slip.

 

About the joint itself-check the microfiche part lists on a website like ronayers.com to see if they are available separately-listed with separate part #.

 

if you want to you can go to napa and tell them you want u joint part# 338 and it is identical to the polaris one and only cost $10 while the polaris one costs 30$ I have replaced quite a few of these
Jason

 

Thanks, I had sweat running down my face, but I got it off. This thing hadn't seen grease in years. It took a torch, a 2 pound hammer and beating the dog snot out of it, but it finally broke loose.

 

You probably paid for 3 ten dollar ujoints when you could have bought one for 30 and it would last 3 times longer than the napa brand [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

the napa (precisionon) ones are IDENTICAL, same number of needle bearings, same markings, and the same numbers on the caps i really don't think that polaris makes their own u-joints do you?
Jason

 

The Napa u-joints are as good as the origional. I use them all the time and they hold up well.