FYI:
I own a 09 850XP and it finally came time to do my first oil change. So this past weekend I did so. At the same time I decided to also put some fresh grease in all the zircs. I was very surprised to find that Polaris had used very little grease if any at all on some joints. There was a lot of water that was pushed out on each joint. I'm glad I did this now and decided not to wait. Hopefully others will do the same.

Just FYI my grease gun takes a full size tube not a mini. I started out with a brand new tube when I did this. The tube is almost gone just to give you all some idea how much it consumed.

 

Wifey's XP was the same way, very little grease but that's all taken care of now.

 

Damn that is alot of grease. I was up on greasing my zerks last year but to be honest I havent done it in some time. I will be hitting that task tomorrow. Thanks for the reminder.

 

I thought it was a lot of grease too. On the back left wheel near the disc brake the top zirc took 6 full pumps before it was full. The rest were about 3 or 4 pumps.

I found out that doing the front top A-arm zircs are a pain in the @!! I ended up coming in from the other side of the bike to gain access. Is there some easier way that I am missing to lube these correctly? Fortunately I had assistance in holding the light and pushing the pump while I squeezed in there and held the fill tube in place.

 

I found that most of mine this past weekend only took 1-3 pumps max. Are you pumping until you feel some resistance or until grease oozes out of the joints? I don't know the internal make-ups of some of these joints, but I know on automotive-style ball joints if you pushed in too much grease you could rupture a ball-joint boot. Alot of the joints seem to be simple pivoting ones in these ATV's so I don't know the exact procedure. The manual does say max. 3 pumps, but that must be assuming that they were greased properly from the factory.

 

Chad
buy some 90 degree zerks to replace the 2 that are, for me, almost impossible to get a gun on. You can buy a dozen of assorted shapes for a few $$.

 

If you read the maintainence schedule greasing is NOT REQUIRED on the XP's. Probably due to the composition of the bushing.

 

These are not the same as auto ball joints and as they are not sealed. Mine were also extremly dry as discribed by above posts, and took a lot more than the 1 to 3 pumps you discribe. I pumped them until I had grease coming out the sides to make sure they were full. I figured cheap insurance given all the reports of worn bushings.

 

Thats because polaris likes it when you buy new parts when they wear out from not greasing them. If it was not required then there would be no zerks.
I did read that in the manual and got a good chuckle.

 

I give them all 4 pumps of grease each, and am always surprised by the mud and water that come out of the bushings. 90 degree zerks are mandatory for those front uppers. They suck to get to!