[taken]

Today I did my annual maintenance on the my 2018. Changed the oil. Greased it. Then I got to pulling the clutch cover to blow out any dust and do an inspection. I noticed the front of the cover was coated in grease. I also noticed that there was a stick caught between the joint in the front prop shaft and my skid plate. I felt around and the boot seemed to be solid but with that much grease, I'm guessing the boot must be compromised? Can the boot on these be replaced like any other CV boot? Big job ( take to the dealer...)? Any advice would be appreciated. Pics of the grease bomb below...

 

[taken]

Well, I think I already know the answer. It doesn't look like the boot is serviceable. So, now the question is, did it just throw grease or is it shot. Maybe I just wipe it, clean up the debris under it, run it and see if the grease keeps coming out.

 

[taken]

Update on this. It turns out the boot is torn from the shaft up inside the cone. So, looks like a new one for me since the boot is not serviceable. It would appear they are $289.99 and include a new carrier bearing already installed. Part # 1333918. My dealer tells me it's less than an hour for them to do it but they are a couple hours away so I'll just order and do it myself. It would appear it's going to take me longer to drop my skids than to swap out the shaft. I even have the correct roll pin punch from a set I bought when changing to the Hunterworks rollers.

If anyone has done this and has any "pro tips"... pass em on... Thanks in advance...

 

[RABBI]

Good luck with the shaft R&R. I haven't done one yet but I'm sure someone can chime in with advice.

 

[taken]

Thanks Rabbi. I watched Super ATV's video on removal that they made to sell their carrier bearing. Seems very straightforward. New unit on order and should land Tuesday. Will swap out later in the week and report on the process for posterity....

 

[Pirate]

taken,
Looks like you have a full UHMW skid plate on your machine...so makes me wonder what did in the CV joint boot? It shouldn't fail if it's protected like yours is.

Something get in there?

Pirate

 

[taken]

The boot is right inside of the driver side rear tire. Very easy for sticks and debris to get in above the skid there. I found the remnants of a large stick between the cone around the boot and the skid. So, I'm assuming that the larger stick that the pieces came from, came in from above the skid. It's funny... well not really... but this has happened to me twice. On a previous ATV, it was the front A arm guard that I installed that trapped a stick and tore the boot off one of its front CV joints. Now a skid has gotten me again. In both cases, without the skids in place, I'm sure the damage wouldn't have occurred...

 

[Pirate]

Taken,

So time to get a piece of UHMW, and build a piece that will keep things out of your CV joints.

Not sure if Factory UTV will sell you a piece or cut up an A-arm guard. But its not difficult to cut the material, then using a section of angle iron to bolt to the skid and to the new piece and lock it in place.

Pirate

 

[btktwood]

I just had my front and mid shafts out to replace the front and also replace the factory carriers with SuperATV. It’s not bad at all after you drop the skid plate.

 

[taken]

I just had my front and mid shafts out to replace the front and also replace the factory carriers with SuperATV. It’s not bad at all after you drop the skid plate.

Do you remember what size the roll pin is? I have a set of punches so I'm thinking I have the right one.

 

[btktwood]

I believe 5/16”. You could always replace the roll pin with a 5/16” x 2” fine thread bolt and locknut to make it easier in the future.

 

[taken]

That's not a bad idea! Thanks for the input...

 

[Pirate]

You'll need a 5/16" x 2" grade 8 bolt and a Nylok nut...and you're good to go!

Pirate

 

[MakersMarty12]

I believe 5/16”. You could always replace the roll pin with a 5/16” x 2” fine thread bolt and locknut to make it easier in the future.

the roll pin is Polaris way of taking up tolerances they buy front diff from hillard and the hole for the roll pin is predrilled. They also purchase the CV joint that goes on the front diff spline. They know in advance the holes are not going to be perfectly aligned. They open up the ID of the prop shaft spline(female) so there is enough slop in everything to pound a roll pin in there and tighten everything up. It is a terrible design and what causes noise sometimes in the front diff area. They make a 2 bolt CV spline setup the clamps to the diff pinion that is 100% better than Polaris design. And another thing SATV tolerances are worse than Polaris and I personally do not recommend them. running a bolt instead of a roll pin is nice for maintenance but your just asking for more slop/wear/noise to occur

 

[taken]

Marty, I was just reading much of the same and I appreciate you confirming. I also got the same reviews about SATV from a friend of mine who has a big riding group which has had a lot of failures from their products. So, tomorrow morning I'm going to do the swap. OE for OE and the roll pin is going back in.

 

[Pirate]

Hmmm...two machines with the bolt, 8000 miles on each...bolt is still nice and snug.

But to each his own.

Pirate

 

[taken]

Today was the day. As predicted, dropping the skids was the longest and dirtiest part of the job. I have the ultimate set from Factory UTV so I had to drop the rock sliders, front and center/main sections in that order. (Reverse of the install...) At that point I decided to drop the rear as well to get 2 years worth of debris out. Also, to gain access for my roll pin punch, I removed the passenger front A arm guard. Lastly, I pulled the two bolts that held the carrier bearing in place. (15MM) After cleaning everything out, I soaked the pin on both sides at about 8:30 this morning with WD40. I then drove my daughter to school...

At about 9, I started tapping on the pin thinking, oh man, this is going to suck. Much to my surprise, it tapped right out with standard pressure from a 5lb hammer. When it was 3/4 out, I was able to remove the front shaft from the diff and slide it forward. I then attempted the rear shaft. It was a bit tight so I pulled the clutch cover. Perhaps it would have come out without doing so but this made it easy.

Reassembly was almost as easy. One thing that stung me for just a moment was that the front and rear shafts have a master spline. I couldn't see it with my naked eye but when the new rear wouldn't mate with the OE front, I was a bit worried. After trying for a couple minutes, I noticed a blue paint mark on the rear and after wiping the front found a matching blue mark there. Once lined up, all slid back together nicely.

Last was to get the pin back in. I had the rear in the air with the tires off the ground and was able to rotate the shaft by hand to line up the roll pin holes. I then tapped the pin back in.

After that it was down to the carrier bolts and putting the now clean skids back up. While they were down I found one stripped RivNut that I replaced as well as 2 out of three of my passenger A arm guard fasteners had been knocked loose from a rock impact which I corrected.

All in all, it's definitely a do it yourself job if you have a basic knowledge of how to turn wrenches and have some patience getting things lined back up. (They always come apart easier than they go back together...) The only specialty tool you will need is the 5/16 roll pin punch.

Oh, and one last thing.... it's ridiculous that you need to replace the whole shaft instead of just the boot. That boot could certainly be changed without the need to replace the entire shaft.

 

[Pirate]

You should be able to buy a boot kit for the driveshaft...unless maybe its that internal boot style..ugh

Just imagine what a Dealer would charge you for that work? Whew!!

Glad all went well!

Pirate

 

[taken]

I'm sure it's because it's an internal boot and because it's pressed in. Not impossible to change but oh well. It's done. I just wanted to do a quick write up so if anyone else did a search in the future, they'd be good to go with some details on the process....

 

[RABBI]

Thanks for the thread, it's a good read.