Guy's this is what forums are all about. Great work. I truly believe the fix is here.
My personal thanks to all of you that are participating here.

 

The shoulder bolts were easy to find here in Baytown TX. I will pick up my new hiem joints Friday from Motion Industries and get the shoulder bolts from Baytown bolt.

I think that this will be a very durable fix, the next thing to get right will be the rear disk brakes on my SP-500. I can't figure out why they wear out when I very seldom use my brakes with the EBS.

 

GRIZ.... Glad to hear you got the shouldered bolts... I have been trying all weekend to get some time to spend on my OWN machines... but haven't as of yet...
I will make another effort tomorrow to get some stuff done and take a pic or two...
How long is the 3/8 section of the bolt on the bolts you ordered?.. How long is the 1/2 section?..

 

Just to let everybody know I haven't stopped working on it, just a couple of annoying Yamaha bearing changes and an oil change away from working on my "rubber band" driven Polarises..
OH.. for those of you who can't/don't have access to the ones from Motion Industries... I just received a catalog from NATIONAL ROD ENDS... They have several different versions of the same thing I bought..
Here is their Customer Service Number... 1-800-233-6213... They have an UNLIMITED amount of variations on different construction materials, different types of grease zerks, loading capacity..etc... So it would be best just to give them a call... I am working on a finished product though...

 

Hi Polaris Folks,

I read your posts for some non-internet Polaris owner co-workers. I work in a Brewery where we have to use stainless. For somthing like your steering I would avoid useing stainless. It's tough but will bend and wear easily. If the threads are dirty when you do a removal they will gauld. I have never seen shoulder bolts that were not of hardened construction. This is the only way you will get a true bearing fit inside your joints.
I thaught my Kodiak had the same problem but it was the nut on the bottom of the steering stem installed loose.

Keep Riding

 

Hi Polaris Folks,

I read your posts for some non-internet Polaris owner co-workers. I work in a Brewery where we have to use stainless. For somthing like your steering I would avoid useing stainless. It's tough but will bend and wear easily. If the threads are dirty when you do a removal they will gauld. I have never seen shoulder bolts that were not of hardened construction. This is the only way you will get a true bearing fit inside your joints.
I thaught my Kodiak had the same problem but it was the nut on the bottom of the steering stem installed loose.

Keep Riding

 

I picked up my new Hiem joint from Motion Industries today and my 1/2"X 3/8" shoulder bolts from Baytown bolt The 1/2" shoulder was 3/4" in length and the threads were 3/4" in length. The head of the bolt was an shallow allen socket head.

I am fixing to install them and will let everyone know how it works and if I run into any problems.

 

Griz..
I looked into the shouldered bolts around here and all of them came with either 5/8 or 3/4 inches of thread... I wasn't comfortable with running that few of threads on the bottom of the strut housing hole..(the 3/8 inch hole) I opted for 1/2" to 3/8" oil impregnated bronze bushings.. They are available thru the local True Value Hardware Store. While there, I picked up some 2 1/2"x3/8" Allen Head bolts, two jamb nuts, and two locking thread nuts..
The bronze bushings will go in the Heim Joint, the Jamb nut will go under the Heim Joint but ontop of the strut housing, and the locking nuts will go on the bottom side.. I am attempting to stick with only store bought stuff with little to no modifications so even those with limited mechanical knowledge can fix their machine too!!..
NOTE:.. The bronze bushings come in 1" length, so if you are uncomfortable with having them that high from the strut housing...(worried about bolt flex or shearing) you can file or grind them down until they suit you...
NOTE #2:... The idea of using an allen head bolt rather than a standard hex bolt is that the Allen bolt will give you more "range of motion" whereas a HEX bolts' head might bind when the front wheels are off the ground or wheels at full lock... BINDING IS NOT GOOD!!...lololol
I hope to also install mine tonite.... Two Yamahas left the shop today..!!!

 

The shoulder bolt did not work it was to short the centerline of the hiem joint needs to be 5/8" above where it bolts down to. I used a 3/8" tapered allen bolt and a 3/8"x 1/2" bushing 3/4" long. I placed the bushing on the bolt then the hiem joint, a 3/8" heavy duty washer (ground down just large enough to stop the hiem joint) then a 3/8" nut.

This hiem joint is also longer than the tie rod end so I threaded the hiem joint farther in than original droped the joint in and adjusted the toe-in to the factory settings. To be sure everything worked I lifted the front end up and turned it lock to lock, then compressed the frontend down with the wheels turned both ways. No problems or tight spots
Everything was purchased at a local hardware store and other than handtools all I needed was my dremel tool to ground the washer down. Hope this helps and good luck.

 

Ok.. I KNOW I'm running behind schedule, but I FINALLY got the outer tie rod ends on..(Heim Joints) I took two pictures of it, one with it installed, and one of the individual parts layed out on the seat... Just so everybody knows, the two factory flat washers WERE reused in the modification. I worked it thru no load..(a-arm fully down with no weight) then put the tire on and compressed the suspension fully and turned right to left.. No Binding, no interference... AND NO SLOPPY STEERING!!!!!!!...... And I have a Grease Fitting TOO!!!......
I haven't figured out how to have ALL these pictures of different mods on my homepage at once.. So if anybody wants to see pictures of this one, feel free to E-mail or post and I will send pictures directly to you.