How to Fix Your Polaris Sportsman Ball Joint and Front End 

HOLY SHIT!!! this worked perfect for me. just tilted machine up screws come out super easy, tilted machine back, pressed em out with the grease gun, glad i watched this. thought this would take hours of messing with. less than 10 minutes. thank you very much. never would have noticed the grease fittings

Vous êtes les bienvenus mon frère du Nord! These machines are no strangers to the dirt and mud.

That grease press trick to get the ball joint out worked awesome this weekend! Thanks

I can see that working where as the screw head has a large head surface to threaded diameter ratio. Thanks for the tip!

Thank you for making a video. It made my ball-joint R&R go as smooth as possible. I really enjoyed the "trick" of pumping out the ball joint with grease,,,brilliant!

Good vid helped me decide to weld a piece of angle iron to the ball joint and air hammer it out

Great video. I recently bought one very similar to this. A 99 sportsman. I have a wobbly rear axle. Have you ever done a transmission axle bearing on one? The bearing holding the cup inside the trans. I will probably tackle it this summer.

It can be a process. The hard part is keeping the knuckle pretty and not messing it up. They're expensive and take a long time to order in.

Great video. You really do not want to fill the hub assembly with drive fluid. Best to put the fill hole at 3 o'clock or 9 o'clock position and fill with a large bore hypodermic plunger to a point where it barely weeps out the hole. It will be about 65% full. Filling entirely can cause expansion and seal failure. Especially in hot climates like I am in the Sonoran desert. You can always check these hub assemblies for proper drive fluid levels by getting the hole at 9 or 3 o'clock positions to see if a small amount weeps out. The Hilliard clutch and armiture plate, as well as the bearings like to be bathed in the fluid, just not drowned in it.

wonderful enginneer job to change a simple ball joint ;)

Way to go- that's correct. The stuff they use is called Demand Drive Plus it's part #2877922 I wasn't aware of it at the time. It's about $20 a quart.

I have tried that hydraulic pressing with my grease gun on my Sportsman ball joint, but it was so doggone gone, the grease just squirted out around the shaft. I ended up having to weld the shaft/shank to the pocket and thread the nut up with a spacer and slowly draw it out. It was a bummer, but it worked. On the topic of filling the Hilliard hub clutch with gear oil - Polaris has their own stinky thin stuff, but I have found powersteering fluid to be best and cheapest to put in there.

Hey brian i have a 98 Chrsler cirrus, and i just notice that only one wheel(passenger side) spins faster than the other.and i dont know if that causes my car to vibrate when i hit 60 mph. Thanks for all your videos u rock buddy!!!

Thanks for sharing that. That's gonna help some one.

Excellent video, nice attention to detail Brian.

I was SUPER tired that day. My little daughter keeps watching scary cartoons and having nightmares.

The screws for the plate that hold my ball joint in came out easy with Allen wrenches.

lol Some days I just don't feel like it, then I read a comment like this and IT'S ON!! Thanks

Thanks for taking the time to teach !!

I just finished a similar job except I packed my hub bearings with grease ...didn't realize until after that the hubs take oil. Does it matter any that i used grease instead of oil?

Thanks, very informative! I get a little tongue tied when trying to film, narrate and do stuff at the same time too. LoL

Really impressive and well done "How to videos" !! Are there any videos on fixing plastic chassis. Like ATV plastic repairs. Respect :)

Fantastique, merci de nous tous dans le Grand Nord. I think a sand blaster could come in handy,

Perhaps you're right. The trouble was the bolts were rounding out. The bolts were soft.

That would do it- just be cautious that you don't create interference or warp anything in the process. Remember there is no replacement for displacement. When you increase compression you loose displacement.

thanx for the heads up i hadnt tried the impact grade yet. i have the reguler ones from there and they have held up well. do you know of, or tried anouther brand that isnt to expensive that is built better? like sunex,craftsman ect?

You are the man Brian! Love your videos, keep on making them and making us laugh!

Dude, you need a nut splitter! And you don’t need to remove the speed sensor. It will come off with the caliper bracket. You can use an Allen socket on your impact driver to remove those screws.

Thanks- just a little something to keep sane. ; )

Hello I would change the cardan shaft crosses, but not as out of the box back. you have videos? THANK YOU VERY GOOD AND CONTRIBUTION.

front wheel of Polaris 500 Ranger Right wheel is about 4inches back from the left side. The machine hit a tree on the right wheel and knocked it back about 4 inches. What do I do? Thanks

Do you have experience in small engines?

It's cast into the part it goes into. They just aren't like the ones you find on trucks.

Lot of work just to replace the ball joint. Much easier to do on a car, isn't it? I am sure I have watched a prior video of yours showing the similar part replaced on a car. Doing it on the Polaris must have taken the better part of an afternoon.

Check your tire sizes, because if your passenger side is spinning faster than the drivers side- either the tires are a different size, or you're always turning left. And friend that's just not going to get you anywhere but dizzy. Trust me. I know.

Good to know!

hopefully by gear oil you dont mean 80w 90 that will make the 4wd stick on/ not work right. U have to use fluid by Polaris . I beleave its some kind of automatic trans fluid. Cool video.

You're welcome!

Can we get headlight lens cleaning with name brand stuff or toothpaste are etc.......

Thank you very much!

How does the grease go in if theres no hole in the top of it like on the after market ones?

Another way to help peeps out there. Instead of slotting them and impacting them out with the screwdriver. You take a GOOD punch with a good tip and use that with a hammer to chisel it loose counterclockwise. Goodluck

Thanks

Short piece of pipe over balljoint with a few washers on top & tighten nut down till balljoint comes out. Ive done many dozens less that a minute job.

Also in my manual for 96-03 sportsman 500 it says that you can use atf in place of their demand drive fluid.

I use NuFinish Polishing compound.

Yes.

I just got a polaris... and i discovered a whole new hate for torx. What a stupid style. Why not use Robertson or even slot heads. Thanks for the video btw, great job

That hydraulic trick is why I'm here.

great vid and awesome narration :)

Yes

I grew up in the equestrian culture- that's where that rhetoric comes from. lol

brian go to harbor frieght and get some impact grade hex sockets. might save you time.

Flat head screws are brutal to get out. Sometimes ya got to drill the heads off.

Same front end setup on my '00 Scrambler 500 4X4. What a disaster that is....hoooooly.

cool

@11:06 ball joint removal with grease gun/zerk fitting.

Rofl "See that catch i'm an athlete" xD

I am all for the "non-metric" fasteners!!

And now you get to do the other side ! Yaaaaahoooo. LOL

Best way to fix a polaris is to buy a yamaha. Im so fed up with my Polaris

I wonder why he didn't just remove ball joint nut the 2 hex nuts and press ball joint out with grease ?? < like everyone else .and not spend 1/2 the day ripping the atv apart . just saying .

Wow seems like a pain, I gotta replace mine unfortunately

Should've honestly just washed the quad right off before pulling those hubs apart. Could get contaminated

It's alright its just the F-word over and over. Nothing important ; )

Grease gun fiting

Get to the point. Quit talking about random shit lol

Dude please stop talking......