Whats the best way to change them without taking the housings off?And does anyone have an idea on how to make a spring compreser to change the front springs?Cant borrow the local dealer's I didnt get the struts from him.

 

You can loosen the front fenders (they don't need to come clear off which is good as they are a tight fit over the handlebars), loosen the nuts on the top of the strut and the strut cartridge pinch bolts. You can have someone press down on the front end enough to get the stress off the nut on the end of the strut shaft (have a floor jack underneath to catch it if anything falls). When you get both nuts off, jack it up enough to take all the weight off the spring. Now you can tilt the strut out enough to remove the cartrige. Re-install the new cartrige, and re-install the top nut first, just finger tight. Lower down the jack, trying to get the strut cartrige to bottom in the housing. Weight down the front a little if you have to, to compress the springs enough to press the struts all the way down into the housing. It is very important to be aboslutely sure they are all the way in!

If you have the standard springs, it is not a bad job at all, I have done it without a spring compressor. I have no experience with the stiffer springs, but I suppose they would be tougher to compress.

Farmr

 

Thanks for the info Farmer123 I got hem changed in less than 2 hrs and still had time for a brew.

 

Hey ftw,
I just changed the shock part on my front strut on a sportsman 500. Every thing was going fine until
I tried to put it all back together. I pulled the strut too far and it pulled the shaft out of the cv and
wouldn't go back in. I tried for 30 minutes and finally took the boot off. The CV ***** fell out. Now I have
to remove all of the grease and put the CV back together, if I can. BE careful. Don't pull the strut out too
far. Good luck and be careful. I wish that I would have paid them to do it all.
Later