2005 700 sportsman . Has anyone had any problems with rear differential on these. tore into rear end and the pinion shaft bushing is mangled even though the pinion bearing doesn't seem to be all that bad other than a little play when I wobble it back and forth.

 

havent seen any post that i remember on it. did water get into it, or spinning and fetched up on something?

 

I think water did get into it initially. I changed the grease,and it gushed out with very little consistancy almost like water.The thing that has me puzzled is the grease was coal black and smelled really bad.I would have thought if water got in it would have been milky colored. I changed the grease about 3 times trying to flush the rear end housing out. After this I took it on a 200 mile ride in west va.I didn't notice any other problems at this point and I just happened to be checking all of the fluids when I found this problem. The reason I decided to tear into the thing after getting back home is because of a vibration started during trip and front seal began to leak grease.Could water getting in and deteriorating the grease cause bushing to spin and tear up the way it did?