Drive shaft replacement

[nxp]

Has polaris come out with a fix yet for the noise around 5000 - 6000 rpm?

 

[JTBarlow]

Has polaris come out with a fix yet for the noise around 5000 - 6000 rpm?

No… but if you’re looking for a better driveshaft, Sandcraft has an excellent replacement setup. It’s a much beefier driveshaft with tighter tolerances, that pretty much eliminates the driveshaft vibration in 4WD. It also has greasable U-joints and carrier bearing.

 

[nxp]

I actually don't use 4wd so how about 2wd ?

 

[JTBarlow]

I actually don't use 4wd so how about 2wd ?

If it’s in the driveline, that should fix it. The OEM shaft has a lot of play in the slip joint, and they’re usually poorly balanced.

The driveshaft spins even when you’re not using 4WD. The vibration is just more noticeable when in 4WD.

One way to check is to grease the spline joint and if your noise goes away for a bit, that’s probably the problem.

 

[jawshxpedition740]

My dealer just put a new prop shaft on mine. They said the new prop shaft has a boot over it to keep the grease in there longer. I have a big ride next week in West Virginia and we will see how it works out. They covered it under warranty.

 

[garciava]

Dirt Dudes have a good You tube video on the Sand Craft replacement drive shaft

 

[B B]

Has polaris come out with a fix yet for the noise around 5000 - 6000 rpm?

Was just thinking about this yesterday. I'm pretty sure Polaris is not putting any effort into the known 4 wheel drive/front drive shaft issue. If they were, they would've came up with a fix by now. Pretty F'en sad.

 

[RNBJones]

My dealer just put a new prop shaft on mine. They said the new prop shaft has a boot over it to keep the grease in there longer. I have a big ride next week in West Virginia and we will see how it works out. They covered it under warranty.

I have a Sandcraft on my pro xp and both Xpeditions . Night and day difference. I am sending pic of both Polaris and Sandcraft. You can see how out of time Polaris’s shaft is .

 

[WITodd]

I have a Sandcraft on my pro xp and both Xpeditions . Night and day difference. I am sending pic of both Polaris and Sandcraft. You can see how out of time Polaris’s shaft is .

That is some really piss poor quality control....... I'm gonna have to pull the bash plates and take a look at mine.

 

[Lilrez13]

Our new 25s have the same issue. Is it worth talking to the dealer ?

 

[Lilrez13]

My dealer just put a new prop shaft on mine. They said the new prop shaft has a boot over it to keep the grease in there longer. I have a big ride next week in West Virginia and we will see how it works out. They covered it under warranty.

Keep us posted if it made a difference

 

[JTBarlow]

Our new 25s have the same issue. Is it worth talking to the dealer ?

The chance of getting a better driveshaft by going back to the dealer for OEM is slim to none.
The Sandcraft setup is a bit on the expensive side, and quite the process to install, but it’s 100x the quality.
The thing is, other than some noise and vibrations, the OEM driveshaft isn’t likely to fail anytime soon. It can be annoying, but it’s typically not a physical problem.
So it’s up to the individual whether $2000 +/- is worth it to fix an annoyance.

 

[johndeerefarmer]

Typical Polaris BS to throw a boot on instead of releasing a quality driveshaft

 

[JTBarlow]

True. The boot just keeps the grease from flying around as it comes out. Does nothing to fix the spline tolerances.

 

[B B]

The thing is, other than some noise and vibrations, the OEM driveshaft isn’t likely to fail anytime soon. It can be annoying, but it’s typically not a physical problem.
So it’s up to the individual whether $2000 +/- is worth it to fix an annoyance.

I know you know more about these machines than I ever will however, common sense tells me that when a long term vibration occurs where there's not supposed to be a vibration at all, there's eventually going to be a problem. The big question's is who's going to be the guinea pig?

 

[JTBarlow]

I know you know more about these machines than I ever will however, common sense tells me that when a long term vibration occurs where there's not supposed to be a vibration at all, there's eventually going to be a problem. The big question's is who's going to be the guinea pig?

Yeah, I agree. The likely eventual result will be it wearing out the differential input and/or snorkel gear bearings. The thing is, it’s not likely, except in extreme cases, to happen before 4-5 years of typical use. And for something like that, I don’t see Polaris addressing the issue.
Polaris seems very fond of “bandaid” fixes, unless it’s something that could hurt their bottom line, like major safety issues that could result in lawsuits.