Guys, I just finished doing alot of work to my 2003 sportsman 500 and while doing so I replaced the front strut cartridges. When test riding I noticed that when the front suspension is fully extended I get a clunking in the front end. When I got off the machine if I lifted up on the front bumper the same thing happened. Any advice would be great.

John

 

Did you have any parts left over? LOL

 

Nope, no parts leftover. I think my issue is with the rubber bushings as I may not have properly seated them at the top of the spring.

 

Did you clamp a pair of vice grips at the top of the strut shaft and allow it to hit the frame as a brace as you tightened the top nut? OPT

 

OPT, I am not sure what you mean by that. I was able to get everything tight but I think my mistake was not "seating" the rubber bumper at the top of the spring upon install.. Currently it is just "floating" on the strut shaft and I believe that is where I screwed up! I will be taking it apart again this evening and hopefully that is the issue. It is just frustrating because I did alot of work to the machine (you know how it goes, one thing leads to another) and now I have this simple yet annoying issue to solve! Thanks for your input...

John

 

The rubber dampener will "float",designed to do this.You can slide it to the top or bottom,ride it and it will be in a different position.Most of the time after you ride it awhile it will settle at the top. You might just be feeling the clunk that most of them make when you extend the suspension by lifting up? OPT

 

OPT, thanks, you are describing exactly what is happening, the clunk is only when the Strut Cartridge is completely extended! I just don't remember that kind of noise before I started with all of these repairs/maintenance. I am going to take it apart this evening anyway just to be sure all is good... The bottom line is that it is a 2003 that was never beaten (I have owned it for five years) and it only has 1400 miles on it but it just needed to be freshened up with new magnets in the front hubs, new u joints for the front drive shaft and I put a clutch kit on it. Thanks again for all the advice you provide.

John

 

reveiw the order of parts and how they are installed.
Ronnie's Mail Order for atv parts, atv tires, snowmobile, watercraft and motorcycle featuring an OEM microfiche parts finder.
The is picture tuff to see, refer to the names of the parts.
they call 21 a spacer, but is the first nut that goes on the shock after the spring retainer.