I've recently purchased an 06 450 Sportsman and have been going through it, fixing some minor issues. The machine has under 200 hours on it and is in very good shape. One thing that sort of baffles me is play in the wheels. I've got all 4 wheels up and I can detect side to side wobble/play. I figured wheel bearings so I bought 4 brand new bearings and had the machine shop at work press out the old ones and press in the new ones. The old ones really did not look in bad shape at all. The axles also really show no signs of wear. Splines appear to be nice and tight. Replaced the wheels, cone spacer in proper direction and torque the rears to 80 lbs and fronts to 70 lbs. The results..........the same amount of wheel play. The a-arm bushing are nice and tight and the play is definitely between the hub and axle. I've spoken with other sportsman owners who's machines have had this play since new. I have an 07 Hawkeye also but it does not have this type of play. Not sure what to think at this point?? Old Polaris Tech....any thoughts??

 

Shares the same basic features as the Phoenix,Sawtooth. Tie rod end wear can actually be exaggerated when it gets to the handle bars as far as play. Plus may not be a problem for everyone,but seems like I had to replace a lot of upper steering post bushings on these models also that caused a lot of play also.Dirt Cheap Yamaha, Honda, Arctic Cat & Polaris OEM Parts & Accessories – Cycle Parts Warehouse

 

I'm not feeling any issues in the handle bars or play in steering. Just play in wheels, grabbing them when machine is jacked up and moving them side to side. With rear wheels off, I can see that the play is in the hub (Which you'd normally think is bad wheel bearings but since they are brand new, that cannot be an issue. My thought is that since the axle slides freely (Not a tap fit) through the bearing, that is what I'm seeing.

 

Could be.. Just have someone hold one side while it's jacked up and see if you can feel play in the other wheel then. Plus feel the tie rod ends and cv joints for slack as you move the tire along with any play of the drive shaft as it slips into the front diff.Any of this could be what you're feeling. Hard not to have some play as the machine wears.