So after reading some posts by akiqpilot I pulled the front arm off of my rear skid to clean and lube the bushings. I got it out and started thinking, why not put some grease fittings on so i don't have to pull it in the future, it always has pissed me off that the front arm had no grease fittings on the 03 440s that i have, it doesn't make sense to have pivot points with no lube! Drilled a few holes, tapped and installed grease fittings. With removal of the arm, installing the grease fittings and re-installing the front arm the whole thing took less than an hour. pics will come soon.

I've never lubed these and have yet to show any wear, they were always designed to be a lubless joint. I guess some added protection never hurts.

i also put in grease serks in my skid, they turned out really good, no wear or tear on the bushings, i also lube theasy almost every ride, it keeps stuff mint.. :beerchug:

http://www.pixbox.se/pic_show_id5561041.html
http://www.pixbox.se/pic_show_id5561056.html

That is a good idea guys and will definately prolong the life of the skid.

OilLite bushings Must Be greased for them to last a long time. And if these bushings stay tight (tolerences)they stay alligned and there is much less likelyhood of them wollering out the rails and tub.

Good job guys, everyone would be well advised to make these modifications.

i thought it was a bad idea to grease those oillites, or whatever they use in there. I thought i read somewhere that they swell or something and wear faster?

I also read this before, but in my experience since i put in the xtra grease zerks i have never had a issue , the bushings look new, and now binding or dirt inside them, i would say this is a myth , atleast regarding oilites in the suspension..

I just changed all 4 front arm bushings on mine. I thought they were OilLite type, but actually they are solid bronze. I was surprised to find that. I was able to find the lowers at the local bearing supplier, but the uppers are not available in the correct length so I had to get a 1.5" long shoulder bushing and also use a 1/2" long shoulderless to make up the difference, works great. I also added zerks, so hopefully they will hold up longer than the the OEMs.




You are correct, If you oil/grease soak a oillite it will over time get soft and crumble. Never use grease on oillites.
Also per my earlier post, the front arm bushings are not OilLite they are solid bronze. They are not available through Polaris. The standard replacements can be purcahed from a industrial bearing supplier, but they have to fitted.

Maybe the bushings on Polaris suspension components are not really Oil Lite bearings. This link has a picture of Oil Lite bearings and ours do not look anything like these.

Oil Lite Bearings

I know from personnal experience of at least 12 Polaris Race Sleds over the last 5 years if you do not service the bushings and bearings in your Polaris Suspension they will wear out very quickly. I will grant you racing is a harsh environment and may not represent typical trail conditions but if you service your suspension components regularly they will stay tighter and last longer.

Part of the benifit to adding grease to any bearing is getting the water out. No one can deny that water gets into all of these bearing/bushing areas. We may be able to debate whether grease will soften the Oil Lite bearing over time but one thing I feel very sure of, if your bearings/bushings are not serviced periodically your suspension will not be as smooth as it could be.

I service all the bronze bushings/bearings in my sleds very frequently and there is no detectable wear after a season of hard racing.

Yeh, I agree service is the key to longevity. I would have added zerks to the front arm when new, but I thought they were oillite. Although they did go 7,800 miles before I replace them, I bet they would have gone a lot longer with lube. One of the benifits from changing them is the new bushings had to be fitted, so i was able to get the tollarences closer than the OEM there for there is absolutly 0 slop in the arm now. Nice and smooth nothing to bind up.

I pulled out my arm last week and both bearings worn out after 5,500 miles. Lucky, there was no damage to the rails.

I having new busing made since Polaris only sells the arm for the 2004 Pro X2 as a complete assembly.

Good idea about the grease ports!!!!!!!! I will add them!