Pinion covers were updated in 2018 to steel. The older aluminum ones are known issues and its one of the first mods that is recommended to avoid costly repairs. A new billet aluminum one only cost $120, too bad you didn't know about that before you blew yours. Hopefully you didn't cause any damage to the front diff and only need to buy a new pinion cover.
2017 Polaris Sportsman 850 SP blown pinion cover
My 2017 Polaris Sportsman 850 SP only has 800kms and the front pinion cover is blown right out of the diff.. running stock tires and everything else is stock. I see on the website the these 850's now have a whole front replacement differential, instead of running diff #1333570 the new diff part is now #1333965 but I don't see a recall. Machine is still under warranty will this be covered?
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BTW, your Suzuki only had 48.5 HP compared to 78 HP on your Sportsman. 30 extra ponies is a lot of extra stress on all components. Not excusable, but understandable.i have the same problem on my 2017 polaris 850 xp. im so done with buying a polaris , they had a recall in 2016 for the same problem but did not fix the problem in 2017.i owned a suzuki 700 for 10 years and never broke anything.
Man that sucks. Front diffs aren’t cheap. Start looking for someone parting one out. Someone in here might have a spare that they are willing to sell or may know where to get one.
Yeah there’s a bit more work to get the RZR diff in there but it can be done. Unless you’re running 32”+ mud tires, I don’t see any benefit in going with the RZR front end. A billet pinion cover will do just fine.
Your new one is cast steel. Its been verified. Your's would be no different. The old aluminum ones do break because they are made of poor cast aluminum. The billet aluminum upgrades don't break subjected to the same riding conditions.I've seen many times on here and on various Facebook groups that the newer model 850/1000's have steel pinion plates right from the factory. I have a 2021 850 and it certainly doesn't look like steel. I'll check it with a magnet when I remember, but it sure looks like cast aluminum to me.
Also, from all the reading I have done, I don't think they break just because the pinion plate is weak, because I've heard of a lot of them breaking at very low speeds or when not even being subjected to any kind of load. I think it sounds more like the front wheel drive is engaging on its own when it shouldn't be, for whatever reason. I'm guessing this could be due to neglected fluid, but I'm just guessing. The front diff is a fairly complicated unit and I'm sure it benefits from nice clean fluid. Just my current opinion...
Pinion plate was updated in 2018.I would like to thank everyone for your input on the pinion plate failure. I would like to see someone high up that works for polaris for a comment on this on going problem and fix it. That would be the right thing to do. What ever happened to quality control in America?
This site is unaffiliated with Polaris, so I don’t think a Polaris rep will comment. Not sure what you want them to say anyway. Pinion plate has been updated. For older models, you can either buy a cast steel OEM one or an aftermarket billet aluminum. Considering the number of units that are sold and that are not upgraded, the aluminum pinion, although not perfect, does perform adequately more times than not.
Where did you get that information from? Pinion cover wasn’t changed to steel until 2018. Prior to that they were aluminum with known breakage problems. 2016 and 2017 shared the exact same part number until it was recently superseded by the steel pinion cover part number.Yep the fixed the problem in 2016 and 2018 and skipped 2017
Then it’s all misinformation. I do read and provide factual information. I’ve said it twice now, I’ll say it a third time and I’m sure there are many people on this forum that will confirm. Pinion cover was changed to steel in 2018 on the 850/1000 models. Prior to that, they were aluminum and known to break. 2009-2014 used the long pinion cover. 2015-present uses the short pinion cover.It's all over dude you have to read bro
I’m offended Mel 😉Is this correct that the later steel OEM is a direct fit replacement for my 2017 Sportsman 850?
My recommendation though would be to get a billet aluminum from Cecco or Custom MotoQuad. I still think those are better than the cast steel OEM, and they are proven to work.I do read and provide factual information.
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