Hello i am looking at a 1996 sportsman 500 and i was wondering if thear is any thing i should look for or is thear any common problems with this atv i have not went to see it yet so i dont know the milage or any thing yet any help would be realy great thank's in advance

 

i was also wondering that is the largest size of tiers or if i should stay with the stock size i am looking at mud bugs

 

I bought my ATV used. I just looked it over good,in air box,shock it around to look for bad joints or bearing even thought in had only dad 120 hrs. Just take it for a ride,try all the gears and the AWD and look at what type of smoke is coming out of the pipe. Kind of hard,to disguise a ATV that does not run right while riding it.

That year ATV has u joints like our 97 SP500, they need to be greased often,take the wheels off to do it. CV last much longer but u-joints are cheaper and quicker to change.

We have 7500 miles on our 97 and only changed 4 rear inner and outer u joints, but we grease that ATV alot. You will have the odd size 10" rims on the back making tire selection more limited. Take it easier on the u-joints and get lite weight 25" tires like Mud lites. Agressive 25" Tires get me though anything.