Polaris ATV Forum banner

prop shaft removal

78K views 47 replies 21 participants last post by  Jamcarriere 
#1 ·
I have an 04 700 sportsman, can the front prop shaft be removed without removing the u joints. I replaced the ones in the front drive shafts, what a pain. I can get the whole shaft w/ u joints for $25 more than just 2 u joints.
 
#2 ·
You can buy the u-joints much cheaper at an NAPA or an ag equip dealer. I bought mine at the local New Holland tractor dealer (part number 139842) and it's greasable. They were $17 and change as opposed to $40+ at Polaris. I checked on Babbit's parts and the 04 700 uses the same u-joint as my 05 400. If you haven't lubed it much, the slip yoke is probably worn too...in that case, the shaft from the dealer might be the cheap way to go. I saw a post where someone listed a PN for the joint NAPA at a few bucks cheaper (search propellor shaft).
Removal of the shaft isn't that bad. After removal of appropriate plastic, drive the drift pin out of the front yoke, lube the input shaft and rear/slip yoke so it will slide back easily. Pry the yoke off the front diff until it's free move the front of the prop shaft to a point where you can slide/pry it forward, off the output shaft...VOILA! Back on in reverse order. It might be a good idea to soak the drift pin and yokes in WD40 the night before. Holy $h!t, I think it took me longer to type this post than to remove the shaft. Jim
 
#3 · (Edited)
prop shaft



Yes it can. Look at the yoke at the front diff, you'll see a pin that goes thru the yoke, simply drive the pin out with the proper punch then slide the shaft back until it comes off the diff input shaft. After which, you can remove the shaft from the tranny output shaft by sliding the prop shaft forward. That's it. Oh, by the way, the napa joint number 338. Just make sure you install the grease fitting facing the shaft and not the yoke.
 
#4 ·
here's a little trick to make it much easier

Raise up the front end of your quad so you can get under it with enough room to swing a hammer. There's a hole in the front center of the skid plate directly under the yoke where it connects to the front diff. Rotate the shaft till you can see the end of the roll pin and use your punch through that hole. It's a lot easier than trying to punch it out under the fender, or removing a wheel to have enough room to use your hammer. Once the pin is out, the shaft will slide backwards(further up the output shaft on the tranny) until the front yoke comes off the diff. Probably have to use your hammer to knock it backwards. Also, soak both the front and rear yokes with parts blaster, wd40, etc to make it slide off easier.

The bonus to the napa joints is that they are greasable, and the popo ones aren't. Oh, and they're a LOT cheaper.
 
#5 ·
Anyone know if the greasable NAPA u joints listed for the 04 700 are the same as the ones on an 08 500?
 
#7 ·
Cross referenced the U joint numbers for my 04 700 and my 08 500 and it looks like all the U joints for both the front and rear prop shafts on the 700 and the front prop shaft on the 500 are all the same. Looks like I'm off to NAPA to get some greaseable joints.
Thanks
 
#9 ·
the rear is a pain in the butt on 05+. You will have to unbolt the rear diff. If memory serves me right, it was 9 or 10 bolts. I ended up removing the front bolt of the rear a-arms and the bottom shock bolts for access as well. Just finished a few hours ago. Took about 2 hours to do it.
 
#10 ·
I have an 07 Polaris 800 EFI, the u-joints in the rear are bad. Upon looking at it, I think I can remove the front u-joint (at the transmission) from the prop shaft. I then would have enough room to remove the prop shaft without removing the rear differential. If the caps pound out fairly easily, does anyone see a problem with it?
 
#12 ·
The Napa U Joints number is 338, the brand is Precision. It has a 90 day warantee. The exact same part can be bought through OReilly Auto Parts , where it has a lifetime warantee. I have a 02 700 Sportsman, When I removed my front prop shaft it did not just slide out. The rear yoke sholder hits the water pump. I worked on it for close to 2 hours. Finally I removed the front engine mount bolt and raised the engine slightly which allowed the yoke to pull out. FYI.
 
#15 ·
Wish I would have known that in advance, never read it anywhere. Heres another then... can a universal joint with end cap grease zerks be of advantange for easier maintenance later. I will have to replace both prop shafts universals. I see that the front one has not been greased and the zerks are broaken off???
 
#16 ·
yep .. both my rear u-joints have zerks on the outside ..and my front shaft has the zerks inside of the joint... u can get at the front ones if they r on the inside...not so much on the rear shaft... hope this helps...
 
#20 ·
what i like to know is what everybody is doing for the yokes?..my 06 800 sportsman goes threw the yokes like crazey and i am sick of paying $100+tax a peice for them...does anybody have a aftermarket supplier for these?.. i have been looking but found nothing.. i have already wore out 2 complete sets of drive shafts that were under warranty .. but now that warrenty is over i have replaced 2 separate yokes but need more now... and yes my bike has alot of miles on it(14000kms) and yes i am hard on it!!
 
#21 ·
you can change the yokes all you want but the shafts still have wear.In my quest to a solution,my 05 was still sloppy with a new yoke.Iapplyed some jb weld to the splines and quickly put it togeather .The yokes were now very tight.Isold the bike so dont know if it ever could be removed again or not.Im guessing an inpact hammer would break it free.
ALAN
 
#22 ·
jb weld would be a perfect fix for this.. or even 3M panel bond..if i was planning on selling it.. and u r correct the splines r wore.. wore bad .. but i have already changed the diff splines in front and back.Havent done the tranny ones yet.. i just find it ridiculous that u should have to do this much work and this much money to keep this ATV's from vibrateing themselves apart.. u don't see this on low mileage units.. and i guess not alot of people put big miles on their bikes.Anyway i have to stop my crying and order some more parts...this is something for people to consider when they r thinking about going polaris after owning other brands or just getting their first ATV
 
#23 ·
Iwas talking to my mechanic friend ,and he thought i might be on to something.He said clean the shaft real good,take your new yoke and smear it with grease,wiping off the access.He then said apply the jb weld to the shaft and install the yoke.The weld will stay on the shaft bringing it back to specs,and the grease on the yoke would help to remove the part.Idont know if it would work or not.Before i kept buying all those yokes,id try something
ALAN
 
#24 ·
I have found loose shafts at the front diff where the yoke goes toward the tire. Don't know if the problem is the yoke or the splines inside the diff. I can't seem to find replacement splines for the diff.. and the only way to get the yoke is buy a new cv shaft??? any one else have such a problem?
 
#30 ·
so are you guys saying the front propellar shaft will slide off once the pin is knocked out, but the rear shaft I will need to unbolt the diff to remove the propellar shaft?

GAT
front motor mount has to come out and lift the engine a bit with a pry bar.. it will wiggle out...rear diff needs to slide back in order to get rear shaft out.. did one on a 800 tonite... stupid set up.. but its not hard,just takes time
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top