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2007 sportsman 800 efi front diff

7K views 17 replies 7 participants last post by  FPD218 
#1 ·
New to this forum and to my 800 stealth black ATV. I have little experience wrenching on atvs but know my way around a workshop. I have owned my bike for about a year and used only for plowing snow in Wisconsin so far. I had it out this weekend to mount the Ground hog max disc tiller on it over the weekend and noticed a large puddle which I thought was melting snow. Closer look and I have 3 of 5 of the front diff housing bolts were snapped off and one was loose enough to turn by touch. I was able to reverse one out and replace it and I replaced the loose one but the other two are blocked by the frame and will require me to remove the mounting bolts and pull the entire unit. Two questions: Am I looking at a larger issue here, why would these just snap? Is this a simple enough task or should I take it in to my dealer?
I sincerely appreciate any help/advice.
 

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#2 ·
F the dealer if you can wrench!!!! They'll probably just sell you a new diff $$$$$$$$. They snapped because the loosened. I've heard of this before. Pull the diff out and try to get the remaining piece of the bolts out. Good luck keep us updated.
 
#4 ·
Thanks for the responses, I will let you know how it goes. While I have it apart, I'm pretty sure from some different videos I've seen the drain plug is on the bottom but covered by the skid plate for the plow, is there any reason I shouldn't drill an extra hole in the skid plate to make changing the diff fluid more accessible? It would seem an extra bit of work to remove the plate each time for one hole I can add while it's off.
 
#5 ·
Definitely I would drill to access the drain plug.
 
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#7 ·
I agree 100%. No reason not to drill it. The easier it is to access, the more likely you are to keep the fluid changed regularly. Just human nature. Very important as it is extremely sensitive to dirty fluid.
 
#6 ·
Ok, so was able to get the diff out and it looks good from what I can tell (attached pics). I didn't have to disassemble nearly as much as I thought I would or what they do on some YouTube videos.
I dropped the A arm on both sides and steering bolts, two front axles popped out without much effort, pulled the tension pin from the back one (this was a PIA as I didn't know the pin was there.) Was then able to finagle it out w/o removing front bumper, radiator, fan, grill etc.

Anything I should replace before reassembling and reinstalling? Main seal is rubber and is in good shape, bearings all look good. I can't see any reason this should've happened.

Thanks again for the responses!
 

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#8 ·
Never heard of one breaking bolts like that before!
I'd closely inspect the cage, rollers and H springs as that's the common wear/fail parts. A lot of guys go with an aftermarket aluminum cage to replace the plastic one. You can get OEM replacement parts from John Deere at a fraction the price of Polaris branded parts too. But if it all looks good and was working OK you might just replace the bolts and button it back up and be fine.
 
#9 ·
Thanks fellas, I will drill the hole on the skid plate before reassembly and will probably use the existing part with the exception of some new housing bolts ?. I just cant explain how or why these snapped. You can see the bottom two are still broke off in there, i replaced the one on the far right. So, of 5 bolts the top 2 were in place and the one on the right was loose to touch. My point being the bottom 3 being closest to the frame mounting and least likely to have torque play a part in movement are the bolts that broke off.
As I stated, I have only used for plowing and we haven't exactly had much snow this year.
Have a good evening everyone.
 
#11 ·
I took apart the differential last night, cleaned it up good, and put it back together. I reset the diff, replaced the axles, reattached the steering assembly, but during the removal I bent the bolt on the ball joint. I ordered two new ones to replace but can't seem to get the old ones out. I asked the dealer and he said there should be a snap ring holding it in place. I don't see a snap ring, there were two Allen screws holding a plate over the ball joint. Any ideas?
I am a carpenter by trade so I know my way around the workshop, but def not a mechanic!
 
#12 ·
I just had my dealer put new ball joints in both my struts on my 2008 Sportsman 700 EFI X2. If yours is the same as mine, there is no snap ring. There's the plate held on by the two allen screws (which the mechanic said you gotta use heat to loosen the threadlock on those screws or they won't come out). Then you gotta have the ball joint puller tool to get the ball joints out. I didn't feel like buying a specialized tool, so I let my dealer swap them for me. I had taken the struts off to put new bearings in, so I just swung by the shop and showed them the ball joints. When he saw them, he said they definitely needed replacing. Cost me an hour of labor and about $40 for the All Balls joints, and now I'm good to go. Gonna get them installed this week and hope to be riding this weekend.

Hope that helps!

Andy
 
#13 · (Edited)
What bolt did you bend? You just take the cotter pin, nut and washer (8,7 & 5) off the ball joint and the A arm (6) just knocks right off the tapered ball joint stud leaving the strut hanging there. You didn't need to remove the ball joint from the strut unless you are going to replace them. They are just a press fit into the strut housing with the plate and 2 screws holding them in. They have to be pulled from the strut housing blind socket for replacement with a ball joint tool and/or heat.
All that is really not necessary though. You can actually just pull the A arm, strut and all in one piece ON THE RIGHT SIDE ONLY leaving them attached to each other. You take the axle nut off. Remove the brake caliper and hub and tie rod end. Remove the a arm bolts at the frame and then the top strut nut and take the whole strut/a arm assembly out together. You can either pop the other side axle loose and leave it in or just bring it out with the diff. Then put it all back in reverse order.

 
#14 ·
There's several very experienced wrench turners on this forum. Don't hesitate to ask about tips and tricks before you fall in on a project. We can very often save you a lot of time and headache. A few well-spent minutes on here can save you hours of work in the garage.
 
#15 ·
I agree wholeheartedly on this! I bought my ATV a month ago and had ZERO experience working on ATVs. A month later, I've replaced wheel bearings, A-arm bushings, tie-rod ends, axles, and CV boots. I've learned everything I know from this forum, YouTube, and the Clymer service manual. I'm having a blast learning all this stuff.

Andy
 
#16 ·
Thanks for the response, I bent the ball joint stud smacking it with a maul following the instruct from a YouTube video before I realized I could just take a pry bar in between the A arm and the strut to separate them. The bolt bent slightly pinching the threads at the cutter pin hole. I just figured since I bent one and everything was disassembled that I would replace them. That was when I struggled to get it out. I will put some heat on it to see if that helps.
 
#17 ·
Ok so update... I tried using heat and pretty good leverage with a couple pry bars and this thin isn't moving. I've royally screwed the threads on the stud so only other option I see is to weld the nut on or get a tap n die set and remake the threads on the stud and copy some extractions I see with pipe, washers and a new nut. Any thoughts on this? I'm even less experienced with a welder than I am a wrench but I do have one.
 
#18 ·
Bolts break because they are loose. Make sure you use a calibrated torque wrench on reassembly and I'm sure you will never have a similar failure.
 
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