I have a 05 700 efi sportsman and have both radial and axial play where BOTH the inner CV joints go into the front gearbox. I noticed some clunking on the way back from a trip yesterday which is what caused me to notice the play. I could not find a Polaris to compare to but all the other bikes seemed way tighter than mine. Damage to the roll cage seems to be the culprit in a lot of these diff/AWD threads. So my questions are.
Would a rollcage cause this or are both my bearings bad?
Do you have to remove the diff to replace the innerds or do you do it while it is still in the bike?
I have read up on using the JD parts and will probably go that way once I have a better idea on what is wrong.

Thanks, I apperciate any help I can get.

 

the roller cage we mention is a cause of the awd drive to stop working. I do not beleave this would have anything to do w/ slop or play. not sure if your talking about grabing the cv shaft and moving it up and down or in and out for play or not. it might have a little play. check to make sure it's not the cv joint itself making that noise. does it leak any fluid and make sure there is no water getting in to the front housing.

 

A new set of bearings and seals would help along with adjusting the backlash pad. The bad news is that you will need to remove the front diff.