'04 POLARIS SPORTSMAN 400

Polaris Sportsman 400 4x4 owners, or owners of '04 or prior years 4x4s with fluid hubs/AWD.

I'm needing to know if other Polaris owners have had a problem with the front hub(s) intermittently locking in in reverse when 4 wheel is switched on, causing the bike to want to track in a circle. This is typically either one hub or the other, and at very low speed. I recently purchased an '04 Sportsman and from day one it has had this problem. The dealer has had it for repairs five times trying to correct the problem, and now the tech dept in MN is saying it's normal, citing the term "wedging", this after spending $2500 authorizing warranty work to fix something that they are now saying isn't broken. They are wiling to keep throwing money at this machine but unwilling to replace it with the '04 1/2 model which has a complete new design (the first design change to the fluid hubs in fifteen years). They won't admit there is a design flaw or inherent problem with the electro-mechanical workings of the hub design.

Has anyone else noticed this problem?

(My bike is presently back at the dealer and being sent to another dealer for a second opinion, I expect it will come back with the same problem it left with, and still no resolution from Polaris Ind.)

I own a 02 Scrambler and a 02 Sportsman they both do this and it is common when shifting into reverse from 4x4. This dosen't mean there is a mechanical problem just charteristics of these hubs. It should only take a little rolling to get it to release or just put it back in neutral to release the load on the hub.
The reason Polaris used the locking hubs was because in 4x4 it didn't make it harder to steer and they could still maintain true posi 4x4 and not use a limited slip like everyone else. Try driving a Yamaha the steering changes drasticlly when put in 4x4.
I hope this helps!

I agree with the last post. my machine is still doing this
and it doesn't bother me anymore. It's just a quirk.
Don't worry about it and ride and have fun.

Just wondering if anyone found any answers to this problem. Other than just live it it. My 02 Sportsman 500 didn't do this for the first 3 years of owning it and now it's a problem. If i use it to plow snow I need to go in reverse without this happening. So far my dealer has recommended the following:

1) replace hub oil.
2) check proper torque on hub nuts.
3) replace armature plates on hubs.

Did all of these and no luck......any other suggestions?