Hi there - not been using puter for a few months now as I moved to "jungle" and more exciting things to do

but a problem with 1994 Polaris

I mentioned before that sometimes hard to get into gears [forward AND reverse] and problem got worse

advice was to adjust the little tie rods so yesterday it actually jumped OUT of gear whenever I put my foot [thumb] down, so I presently have the gear lever out and removed tie rods, crank etc

what bothers me is same rod does both forward and reverse so if I lengthen rod for forward then that will make reverse worse??

but I am hoping it is caused by the ball joint being very sloppy so I am about to swap it with the low range one [which I never use] and hope that will fix it

anyone have any suggestions or tips before I put it back together?

 

the rod for forward and reverse should be adjustable on both ends. if I remeber right. if not then you need to get a new rod. I recently had to adjust both on a buddy's explorer and it took quite a few tries to get right especially on older ones where the shifter bushings are worn. I wouldn't remove the one for low gear as it could possibly try to to shift into low while riding(such as stick getting pushed up into it). if it did it would surely mess something up. I will check in the morning and see if it is suppose to be adjustable on both ends.

 

OK it was 2 separate problems

sure I solved the get INTO gear as detailed above [I actually swapped the ball joints over so the worm one is on the Low Crank arm and took up the slop by adjusting the tie rod]

the jump out of gear [almost identical noise] is because I have 3 inches play in the main chain so chain was actually slipping off the sprocket [it is SO sloppy I am thinking easiest way to tighten may be to remove a link in chain!!]

just been a bit lazy of late so this has spurred me to do a lot more maintenance under the beast, or that will be the end of my ATV

so wheels are off and she is up on blocks awaiting some therapy

 

the job is complete and for anyone else who has put off adjusting the rear chain eccentric bizzo because it looked too hard, I can say it was well worth it.

I took the whole lot apart [except the bearing which had little play] and cleaned out and lubricated the housing that holds the bearing so it is easy to adjust

the method of adjust in book seems difficult so I simply use a screwdriver and hammer to lightly tap on the 2 lugs on the bearing housing and observe the chain tension all in one place. I did however collapse the suspension with a luggage strap as in the book in order to adjust chain at maximum distance apart of the 2 sprockets, albeit there is no way [I dont do jumps] the suspension would ever get to that position while riding

the chain had some links very tight so I took it off and worked on each link till free

only problem is I could not get a new circlip for the link pin so I made one up and after testing I am happy it will hold

the bike is totally different as it goes straight into reverse/forward and no free play clunks when clutch takes up and no jumping off of chain when put foot down

I am really happy I did not damage the front sprocket and would recommend that others not be as lazy as me and keep an eye on the chain tension [as well as lubricate the swing arm and bearing grease gun points

I was thinking that if I had damaged the rear drive I could just remove the chain and engage 4WD and the demand system on front wheels would still allow me to use the bike [without reverse but I simply putter on a beach so no problems there]

anyone ever done that in an emergency situation?