Sportsman 500 rear popping noise
 

Hey gang,
My 99 started making a popping noise today after i loaded it with a heavy trailer and caused the rear to squat pretty low. It is only coming from the left rear side. I thought it to be the cv axle but i inspected and they look fine. i can make the noise happen if i stand on my hitch and bounce up and down also. There is a stabilizer type bar that is vertical, about 6 inches long on each side of the suspension and has a rubber ball on each end. the rubber appears to be worn out and moved slightly. Could this be it? I tried to find the diagram on partsland.com but no luck. Any help is appreciated. thanks

Had this happen a lot. It's either wear and stress on the hub bearings or in the ball bearing channels of the cv joint or plunging joint when under a load and will click clack. You can also try to duplicate this noise without a load by turning sharp left and right circles on flat ground.You're loading and unloading each side. The best way to tell which joint is making the noise is to remove the shaft,lock the center shaft in a vice and twist each joint.You can also check out the hub bearings also. Most of the ones I had were from the plunging joint because of all the movement they do.Catch 22 is if you just replace one the other joint will start making noise and it costs more to replace joints separately than to just buy a complete shaft assembly. Most of the ones I encountered would make noise also in reverse,but in forward they would be ok. After a while though when they start making noise in forward and reverse,then it's time to address the problem.Replace any worn stabilizer bushings,but just from what I experienced it's usually the joints or hub bearings. OPT

The rubber bushings are a high wear item. It's pretty common for them to need replacing but it's probably not what's making the noise.

So, if you have this problem, how long do you let it go before getting it repaired? I have an 04 500 and just started noticing it this year. Only about 650 miles on the bike, never pulled anything, or ridden it overly hard. Lots of rocky, rough terrain tho, some deep water, but not a lot. Use the bike to get from point A to point B for hunting, not for 'muddin'. Boots look good as new. Clicking occurs only under pressure (like turning the wheels and rolling either front or back slowly to produce noise). Coming from outboard left rear CV 'area'. Brought it up to mechanic at annual service, and they reported not hearing anything (must not have tried very hard). Question is, do I let this ride until it gets bad enough to really notice, or if I do, do I risk catastrophic failure of an axle 25 miles from the trail head without further warning? Mechanic said that I'd know when my CV was going bad. Just want to know how much attention I should give this NOW. Cheers, Griz.

It's not always how many miles,but what they've been through.With drive shafts you never know. May last a long time with just this noise or could get worse in a short period of time. Cheap as aftermarket drive shafts are now you can replace both and be done with it for 60 bucks a drive shaft. Plus bearings such as All Balls are cheap on Amazon or ebay if you want to do it all at once.Plus complete drive shaft and bearing kits are out there. http://www.ebay.com/itm/2pk-8TEN-Hig...VWEbq2&vxp=mtr
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Polaris-Spor...ZXLJN0&vxp=mtr

Hope you were able to manage this....because it's a reaaaaaally old thread that got bumped - but if you have to replace the rear CV joints, it's worth giving AmericanCV a browse, they've got a big range of aftermarket parts so you're not paying an arm and a leg to replace anything like you would if you went direct to manufacturer. :)

Some people never post back whether they repaired them or not.

This is true. Nice to know how things turn out though, when people do. :)