I have a 2004 sportsman 500 H.O. An have been doing allot of mudding lately, i would like to put a home make snorkle kit on it an some mud tires, i thought about lifting it but im worried about the stess on the axles, i have a low budget for this project but want to have a beast of a machine, any ideas? And any tips on when i make the snorkel? Id like to be able to put the seat under the water if i had to

 

If you get bigger heavier tires you may want to do some clutch work.

 

Whats needed for that?

 

A different primary spring might be all you need. Hopefully someone who knows more about it can help.

 

I will tell you this mud riding isn't cheap, especially if you want a beast of a machine. I have a stealth snorkel on my polaris. It puts all of the snorkels in the headlight pod. The kit was about 300 bucks. The materials are cheap, you are mainly paying for the design of the kit. However this takes care of the entire machine, not just the motor and belt venting. It will take care of the diffs crankcase vents, fuel system. It is very well thought out. There service was great. It was the first machine I have snorkeled. Good luck, keep us posted on your build. Have fun.

Tires will probably be the most noticeable improvement. You should be able to effectively run up to 27'' tires without clutching, make sure you are using low range when in the mud. A lift kit will also add ground clearance but it will ad stress on your axles. The rear axles are pretty stout on those machines. The front inner u joint is the weak link in the drive train. I ran a 2'' lift and 26 or 27 titan 589 on my 500 and 700 with very little problems. It was for a short time on the 500. On my 700 I upgraded the front axles to gorillas, they worked awesome.

 

well said tony. you really need to seal the belt cover, intake and exhuast so no water can get into the belt. i learned the hard way on my 550xp and had to replace the clutch. the 850xp has never had water in the belt

 

How To: Stealth Snorkel your (96-04) Polaris Sportsman - Rubber Down Customs

heres a link to a do it yourself snorkel. Keep in mind i did this and worked well, but when i pulled a boat 20-30 miles in the heat my belt delaminated, pretty sure from heat and the lack of venting.

 

I like it, the one improvement I heard is because the breather pipes to the belt housing is longer now you should up the Diameter of the extended pipes and use a reducer to connect to the stock pipe. This allows more air flow to the oringinal starting point of the belt housing inlets.
Instead of 1.5" to 1.5" you want the stock 1.5 connected to a 2" or greater exstended pipe.