I just picked up a 96 polaris 425 (4x4) that is in pretty good shape, aside from the rear axle is wobbleing in the housing, so its time for new bearings. ANyone here done this job? do I need a press to put the new bearings on? Any hints or tips for me? thanks a ton in advance! I have had polaris sleds for a long time but this is my first time with one of their quads.

 

you don't need a press, polaris makes a special socket to acually torque the nuts on the axle, but if you can find the right size you can build one yourself, just take a piece of pipe and weld it on to the socket

 

If you have let the bearings go very long you may end up having to replace the housing.

 

Heck, torquing the nuts is the easy part. Getting them off has been the hard part alot of times for me. If they are not rusty they have loctite on them and need some heat. You need a couple of big wrenches(1 3/4") or a smoke wrench. Alot of the ones I have worked on were in orchards all thier life and have had to cut the nuts off.
Punch the bearings and seals out with a long punch. You should grease the new bearings first before you install them. Then when its together pump grease in untill it comes out the seals. The magnums were a pretty tough machine but a fair amount of maintenance with the chains.

 

Thanks for the help, So I pull the axle and use the punch on the bearings? I got the bearings in before the clymer manual, so I'm working blind, as I've never had a bearing carryier apart before on one of these.