Victim:
1997 Polaris Sportsman 500
Injury:
Broken yoke (i think)
Violator:
Brother-In-Law
Link:
Pic showing victim-highlited with red arrow





My brother in law used my ride a couple of days ago and brought it back with a busted axle/yoke/something. He says that while he was turning it to put it on the trailer something broke and he ended up rolling it upside-down. He says he wasn't going fast or "hot-*******" but I think he is full of it.

Any of you guys ever heard of this part being busted by making a slow turn?

Has anyone ever heard of this part breaking at all?

The area that is broken is the yoke inside the hub/bearing carrier...and one side is completly broken in half. I assume that he will need to replace the yoke that is broken but is there anything else I should look at?

Thanks!
Hawg

 

Never heard of it personally. Between our 2 quads and 3 friends' Polaris' quads.

 

I was riding mine one day on the trails. Went most of the day, and then I was cruising around 10mph and all of a sudden the rear tire locks up on me. I got off and checked things out only to find out that the yolk was bent and the u-joint had come out. When that happened, the shaft dropped and then got jammed between the differential yoke and the lower arm, which caused my left tire to lock. This is where mine broke.

Anyone know of a cheap place to get parts?

 

although it is a 97... if it wasnt clicking or anything before he took it.. then i would have to say.. takeing a harmless turn onto a trailer wouldnt be the cause.. imo... you never know... didnt you say he rolled it or somthing? idk

 

Brother-in-laws,kids and neighbors! Wish I had a dollar for every time I've heard this! Have one in the shop now that has a new complete frame ordered because of "neighbor" joy riding! Ripped off complete rear swing arm assy! DONT loan your toys,I've seen way to much damage from inexperienced riders. Even if the "brother-in -law" didnt cause the damage,strained relations isn't worth it. Seen it too many times! OPT

 

I don't know if you need the front or rear, I found a '96 front on Ebay.

96 POLARIS SPORTSMAN 500 4X4 FRONT DRIVESHAFT:eBay Motors (item 250321714869 end time Jul-05-09 13:19:30 PDT)

Check salvage yards if you don't want new.

 

Thanks for the link but it will be for the rear. Plus the part I need is just the yoke, the axle looks okay.

Yea he did roll it so that is why I have a hard time believing that he wasn't goofing off. Plus the wheel still turns and he said it never locked up.

 

+1 on that.

 

Could have been a bad u-joint that bound up enough to break the yoke. Either way, doesn't sound like fun at all. That's why I don't borrow my quad out. I lent my bro my 05 800 ONCE and he broke a bunch of stuff(mostly cosmetic) in a short amount of time.

PastorK, the best place to find decent prices on parts is probably ebay. Keep an eye on craigslist in your area too in case someone happens to be parting out a machine for cheap and you can pick up a bunch of spare stuff.

 

You can check out Crashedtoys.com - Repo and Salvage motorcycles, snowmobiles, boats, campers and more too.