(I am new to this forum BTW) have a 2006 450 Polaris Sportsmen after taking it mudding I cleaned it off with a 2500 PSI pressure washer. About a week later it started making a slight clicking noise from the rear CV area then I started hearing it a little in the front Over the last week it has gotten much louder and it makes it in any gear or direction, I raised it up on a jack and gave it throttle and nothing it seems to only do it with pressure on it none of the CV boots appear to be torn? I am VERY tight on money and have little experience with independent suspension and CV axles but I know a good bit about ATVS PLEASE HELP!!!!

 

If the boots are bad and you took it mudding the joints could very well be bad. However they may just be out of grease. You can usually buy oe quality axles on ebay for less than 200 apiece. The boot kits are around 20 bucks per boot.

Sorry I read your post wrong I thought you said the boots were torn. My bad.

 

If you're sure on the boots(you might even unclamp them and check for water ) no slits,etc. Plus you can try to repack the joints,but I never had much luck.What usually happens is wear on the rear plunging joint at the transmission,or the cv joint or the hub bearing could be the problem. When you jack it up you take the load off the machine and you usually wont hear any noise. I've dealt with this for years as some machines started out "click clacking" only in reverse,not forward,but then as the channels wore in the plunging joint where the ball bearings ride ,they would start make noise in forward range.I got bit a couple times by having someone ride or hang on the rear to identify which joint was bad and ordered it only to have the machine come back later for the other joint making noise! It ended up costing more this way than replacing the whole drive shaft assembly!This I explained to customers and gave them the option of doing a partial repair or a complete one. A lot of trouble,but you can remove the drive shaft and can twist the cv and plunging joint on the shaft to see if you can eliminate one or another.There are places that can rebuild them I believe cheaper than buying oem.One is called the CV Man. CV Restoration eBay Store About My Store

 

If I cleaned and re greased the joints could that solve the problem?

 

A little work involved,but no harm trying to repack/check out the cv joints especially since you were mudding and the noise started afterwards. If it doesn't help then you'll know your options. Don't forget to check out the hub bearings also.

 

What exactly would I be looking for? Im sorry im new! lol