[SRWillis]

Evenin' folks,

I've been retired for a year and a half and have been blessed to buy some property, mostly hills and woods. I started looking at 4 wheelers, then decided a SxS would work better for us to help maintain the property and trails. I found a 2007 locally. It's a little rusty and has higher hours from being previously owned by an apartment complex, but seems to run and drive ok and the rust doesn't look like it's done serious damage. I'm new to these machines, so I may need to pick your brains from time to time if you don't mind. It needs a front bumper, and I'd like to add a winch, so I may try building something. I'm fairly mechanically able, so hopefully I can keep this thing up and running!

I know everyone likes pics, so here's a couple from the ad:

 

[Big Blue]

Looks good. My very first ranger was a red 06 and I drove the tires off of it. It should work great for you.

 

[SRWillis]

Looks good. My very first ranger was a red 06 and I drove the tires off of it. It should work great for you.

Thanks. Funny, a couple nights ago I bought a manual from ATV Service Manuals advertised by chris21 and found out when I deciphered the VIN that I have an 06 also.

I've been looking the machine over and have found a few minor things that need corrected: tie rod ends and CV and rack boots. I pulled the gas tank to clean the crud out underneath it and painted the top of the skid plate.

The belt has a chunk out of it and I've taken the secondary clutch off and am waiting to borrow a set of snap ring pliers to dig into it. I ordered a clutch puller for the primary so we'll see what I find there.

The PO had 'installed' a garden tractor battery, or I should say jerry rigged it, so I have to fab up a battery box. He just had it sitting on the plastic cover...

But, the brakes are good and the tires fair. As long as there's nothing too major I'll be happy.😎

 

[SRWillis]

Well, kept finding worn out parts on the front suspension and steering. Just starting to put it back together. Put new boots on the tie rods, new tie rod ends, got new ball joints in and just put new inner and outer boots on the axles today. All the A-arm bushings had been replaced with plastic bushings except for one, so they're on order. Also just ordered a Duraclutch as the secondary clutch was trashed and the primary was pretty well worn. Buy once, cry once (hopefully).

 

[Rangerwhit]

A arm bushings are plastic, stock. What kind did you buy?

 

[SRWillis]

A arm bushings are plastic, stock. What kind did you buy?

I didn't know stock were plastic, but here's what I ordered: 2006-2008 Polaris 500 Ranger EFI 4x4 ATV EPI Polaris Front A-Arm Bushing Kit | eBay

 

[Rangerwhit]

Yep, same thing as what I used. Put blue locktite on the the threads, per manual. May want to inspect the fuel pickup line in your tank. They will crack at the barb on fitting that goes through the grommet on top of tank.

 

[SRWillis]

Yep, same thing as what I used. Put blue locktite on the the threads, per manual. May want to inspect the fuel pickup line in your tank. They will crack at the barb on fitting that goes through the grommet on top of tank.

Ok, thanks for the tips.

 

[SRWillis]

Well, got it all back together and took it out to the property for a test run. It was running good for about a half hour, then POP! - it blew the spark plug out ☹ Guess I'll be pullin' the head to put an insert in.
Gettin' ready to drag it back home...

 

[SRWillis]

Well, took the head off and installed an insert. Thankfully the cylinder has nice hatch marks so I didn't tear it down any further. I noticed one of the rear calipers stuck pretty good and the other not far from it, so I replaced both. Rolls a bit easier now lol! Drives better too. The Duraclutch is smooth.

As you can see from the earlier pics, the upper bar on the bumper was rotted out.. I had some 1.5" square tubing, so I fitted it on. I also wanted a receiver on the front and had some 1.5 X 2.5 tubing, so I welded it in and bolted on an "ATV Hitch Adaptor" I found at Harbor Freight. Hard to see in the pic, but looks like it'll do the job. Still have to cut out the grill to accommodate the hitch and smear on a couple of coats of Rust-Oleum.