:whatever:
Howdy! I am new to snowmobiles and extremely new to attempting any do-it-myselfing on a snowmobile. That being said, I am in charge now of 2 Polaris late 90's sleds and they are in serious need of shock rebuilding. If you would be so kind, please help me to understand what is involved, step-by-step in removing the front and rear shocks. Thank you very much, in advance and Best of Luck to you and yours this holiday season and may the snow in your area be deep and come often!

Thanks,
TomBow

Since I'm first I'll take the easy end!

Front: I find it easy to place the sled on a concrete block with a piece of wood on it under the bulkhead (flat spot right under the motor.) This gets the weight off the skis and allows the front suspension to hang.

Then it shoudl be as simple as unbolting the top and bottom bolt on each shock. It's been a while since I've done anything on a polaris but I think there was actually a little more room to maneuver than my Arctic Cat so it should be pretty easy for you.

If your shocks are rebuildable and you are shipping them somewhere for rebuilding, take the springs and retainers off. (It's cheaper to ship!)
All you need to do is rotate the adjusting collar until the spring is all the way loose and then slip the retaining collar out. Then the spring comes right off. YOu shouldn't need any tools for this assuming your retainer isn't rusted to the shock body.

Thanks for the reply, JoeZR2
Sounds easy for the front end, even for me!

All righty then, How about the rear shocks?

Again, thanks in advance.

ok, ok I'll take the back too.

To remove the rear shocks, you need to pull that whole rear suspension assembly out from under the sled. This is easier than it sounds so don't worry. Getting it back in is the hard part! (Not technically hard, it's just a pain the first time you do one because you basically have to wrestle it in place....I'm getting ahead of myself though)

Loosen the track tension all the way with those two (9/16ths I think) bolts that run parrallel to the rear suspension rails. They are all the way at the back of the skid.

Now look at your tunnel. You will see one bolt on either side about where your ankles would be if you were sitting on the sled. Take those out. The other two bolts are about straight down from where your butt would be either above or below the foot boards. Once those are removed, roll the sled on it's side. I usually put a piece of carpet down on that side so it's not resting on concrete. (If you have a battery I think you are supposed to remove that before you roll it on its side too.) With the sled on it's side you can pull the rear suspension out of the tunnel and wrestle it out of the track.

Now your shocks should be nice and easy to unbolt.

Once you replace the shocks reassembly is basically the reverse of the above. The tough part is getting the 4 bolt holes lined back up to bolt the skid back into the sled. I remember the first time we did this on an 86 polaris we screamed and yelled at it for 3 hours then all of a sudden we got it. The next time we did it in about 10 minutes..... You will need another person to do this. I'm sure some of these guys have some tips or tricks for this but I found bolting the front first and then lining up the rear is easiest. Undoing the torsion springs helps too. Don't give up though, you'll get it. I'm just warning you it can be frustrating.

Don't forget to readjust the track tension before you ride.

Good luck and if you get stuck, just ask
SWRules

EDIT: One thing I should add: when you hav ethe rear skid out of the sled you should grease EVERYTHING! Use a grease gun on every little zzerk fitting. I usually take everything apart, clean it and grease every place two things rub together. If you don't have a grease gun, any auto parts store should have one (they are pretty cheap.) Use a good grease suitable for low temperatures. Personally i will not use anything except full synthetic grease (and oil, brake fluid.....etc too) I'm a big believer in synthetics but you can get buy with regular low-temp grease as well.

Wow Joe,
Thanks a whole big bunch, man! I really do appreciate it.

TomBow

When i re-install the skid its usually by myself and i find that a ratchet strap can be your best friend once you get the front bolts in. When trying to align the rear bolts do one at a time, and if they ar too far back in the tunnel (most likely) then attatch the strap to that area as high up as possible and run it to the front of the skid, a couple of clicks later it will be lined right up. And the easiest way to get the suspension back inside of the track is to get the front inside the tunnel and up as far as possible, and then try to shove the back inside the track. It really just takes some practice..It will happen eventually.

joezr2, that was a great description, I couldn't have said it any better.

Another trick that is easier than the strap is to tighten the track. I never believed this would work till I tried it myself. As you tigten the track the rear arm moves forward and stays in that position. Call me when you get your shocks out. ............ Dave

http://home.comcast.net/~davearctic/DLS.html

See, I knew these guys would kick in with some tips! Next time I'm going to try the ratchet strap and track tightening and see what happens.

Oh, and no problem. I REALLY do not want to work today :lol: I have a bottle of champagne sitting on my desk just begging to be opened...... too bad corks make a lot of noise........

Now I'm a lazy sloth from our christmas lunch.


Edit: you will notice one of our resident members who rebuilds shocks posted in this thread above

Don't forget to http://96lt4.com/smiles/drinkers.gif

Another trick that is easier than the strap is to tighten the track. I never believed this would work till I tried it myself. As you tigten the track the rear arm moves forward and stays in that position. Call me when you get your shocks out. ............ Dave

http://home.comcast.net/~davearctic/DLS.html[/b]


Wow never would have thought of that on my own, thanks for the tip, I'll have to try that this weekend.

not my preference but another way is to unbolt the spring. then bolt in the rear easily as you will not be fighting the spring. done a cat that way and the problem was then fighting the spring back into place. this for that, ratchet strap placed in the right place is the best way I have found. to far to invite over to show you how, sorry. but your always welcome to drive here :dazed:

Great explanation of the process.

I know it's not supposed to be THAT difficult. I got frustrated and drunk (not necessarily in that order) ;) when I attempted this task last spring.
So I still need to take care of this same job now, once I can get the machines hauled home.

TommyBoy,

Weird! I have the 1998 Indy 700 and my wife has a '99 XC 600 SP, pretty durn close to you and your wife's sled! Small dang world!

I gotta admit, I got myself a bit frustrated yesterday when I pulled ski shocks off my wife's sled, the rear suspension shock off her sled, one of my ski shocks and discovered a rounded bolt on the other ski shock on my sled. Quit right after I monkeyed with the rounded bolt for a while. I wasn't bold enough to take the suspension out of my wife's sled and wrassled out what I could. Guess I gotta break down and get the suspension out. A time lapse video of me doing what I did would have been interesting to see, on one side of the sled, on the other side, back and forth. Well, like I said, I'm not a mechanic and am cautious to get too deep into removing stuff with the thought that I might not me able to get it back in like it was before I removed it.

I do appreciate the tips from all ya'll and wish you the best in your sledding and maintenance adventures. I'm hoping that we'll get some snow soon! Please?!

Best of luck to you and yours, ride safe and enjoy yourselves and your sledding buddies, too!

TomBow

TommyBoy,

Weird! I have the 1998 Indy 700 and my wife has a '99 XC 600 SP, pretty durn close to you and your wife's sled! Small dang world!

TomBow[/b]

Yup, I was thinking along the same lines, even before you posted this. Now even more so, LOL!!!!! Sorry to hear of your frustration so far. It sounds just like when I tried thsi last year, except for the fact that you actually got something removed!!