The following pertains to a 2015 Commander XT. It may or may not pertain to other model years.
If you're installing a lift kit, or removing both of your rear shocks for any reason (perhaps you're performing some service, or installing new shocks or new springs, etc.), be sure to FIRST remove your tires/wheels before you unbolt both shocks at the same time.
Why? The weight of both tires (I had the stock 27 inch Maxis Bighorn 2 tires), without the shocks to limit the downward travel of the rear suspension could pull your rear suspension down too much and pull out the axles from the CV joints at the wheel hub. Yes it can happen (I'm an example of this happening)!
To put this back together, it's a bit of work:
I would also suggest if you are installing a bracket lift to install the REAR brackets FIRST! The reason for this is that if there is any problems installing the lift kit, you will know before you install the front brackets, as the rear brackets seem to be more critical than the front kit. So if there is a problem with the rear brackets, you can stop here and re-assemble the buggy without the rear brackets and not have to go back and remove the front brackets to make your buggy drivable again. This way it's easier to get your buggy back in service while you're trying to figure out how to solve the fitment issue.
If you need to pull down on your shocks at all to re-insert the bolt for the shock, then STOP and contact the manufacturer for instructions. They may either have to make you a new bracket, or they may instruct you to try an 'axle-extender' kit (UATV-Tech has these).
If you can insert your shock bolt easily without pulling down on your rear shocks, or by lifting up on your shocks by any amount, then you should be ok. But IMHO, it's important NOT to have your wheels and tires installed while your doing this, because (as previously mentioned) having the weight of the wheels and tires installed could cause your axles to pull out of the hubs a bit and give you a false indication that everything is fitting properly.
I had done this backwards, I installed the front brackets first. Then when I went to install my rear brackets I had to pull down on one shock about 1/2 (0.5) inch, and about 1/4 (0.25) inch on the other shock. I thought this was odd, but there were no mention of this in the bracket lift installation instructions. I went and did some research, but didn't drive the buggy other than to load it on a trailer and off again, and found out that I shouldn't have pulled down on the shocks that much to get the rear shocks to install.
Contacting the manufacturer, they wanted me to measure the amount that I needed to compensate for pulling down the shocks. Since I thought this was an easy measurement to do, I hadn't thought about removing the wheels and tires. When I removed both upper rear shock bolts, this time I didn't have to pull down on the shocks to remove or install the bolts, but it looked like I had to lift up the shocks by about 1/2 (0.5) inch. I was contemplating why the difference compared to when I first installed the rear brackets (I hadn't yet realized that the weight of the tires would cause an issue), when suddenly the rear suspension dropped another 2 inches until the rear tires were resting against the body panels. This is when I discovered that the rear axles had pulled out of the CV joints at the wheel hub end. So now you can learn by my mistake.
I'm told that when you reassemble everything, it's a good time to change the clip at the end of the axle that retains the axle in the CV joint to one from the Maverick instead of the one from the Commander (thanks Acefire for this tip). Luckily I have a dealer close by so I should be able to order these clips. I haven't done this yet, so I can't confirm it. At this point, it's also pretty easy to install the "axle-stenders" since you already have everything disassembled as needed to install the extenders.
I was also told to get new CV boot clamps and the installation tool from a NAPA store instead of trying to use the almost impossible to install Can-Am boot clamps. I'll also confirm this later when I get a chance to finish this.
I hope this helps some others. My guess is that this information is good for just about any brand of bracket lift, so there is no need to mention any specific brand at this point.
If you're installing a lift kit, or removing both of your rear shocks for any reason (perhaps you're performing some service, or installing new shocks or new springs, etc.), be sure to FIRST remove your tires/wheels before you unbolt both shocks at the same time.
Why? The weight of both tires (I had the stock 27 inch Maxis Bighorn 2 tires), without the shocks to limit the downward travel of the rear suspension could pull your rear suspension down too much and pull out the axles from the CV joints at the wheel hub. Yes it can happen (I'm an example of this happening)!
To put this back together, it's a bit of work:
- you need to remove the rear torsion bar
- remove the rear break caliper
- remove the wheel hub
- remove each trailing arm
- remove the axle from the trailing arm
- and then remove the outer CV boot at the wheel hub
- Then reinsert the axle into the CV joint (it's greasy in there, be prepared)
- Get new CV boot retainers and install them (you probably can't reuse the original clamps)
- then put everything properly back together with locktight threadlocker in the proper places and using the proper torque values for important nuts and bolts.
I would also suggest if you are installing a bracket lift to install the REAR brackets FIRST! The reason for this is that if there is any problems installing the lift kit, you will know before you install the front brackets, as the rear brackets seem to be more critical than the front kit. So if there is a problem with the rear brackets, you can stop here and re-assemble the buggy without the rear brackets and not have to go back and remove the front brackets to make your buggy drivable again. This way it's easier to get your buggy back in service while you're trying to figure out how to solve the fitment issue.
If you need to pull down on your shocks at all to re-insert the bolt for the shock, then STOP and contact the manufacturer for instructions. They may either have to make you a new bracket, or they may instruct you to try an 'axle-extender' kit (UATV-Tech has these).
If you can insert your shock bolt easily without pulling down on your rear shocks, or by lifting up on your shocks by any amount, then you should be ok. But IMHO, it's important NOT to have your wheels and tires installed while your doing this, because (as previously mentioned) having the weight of the wheels and tires installed could cause your axles to pull out of the hubs a bit and give you a false indication that everything is fitting properly.
I had done this backwards, I installed the front brackets first. Then when I went to install my rear brackets I had to pull down on one shock about 1/2 (0.5) inch, and about 1/4 (0.25) inch on the other shock. I thought this was odd, but there were no mention of this in the bracket lift installation instructions. I went and did some research, but didn't drive the buggy other than to load it on a trailer and off again, and found out that I shouldn't have pulled down on the shocks that much to get the rear shocks to install.
Contacting the manufacturer, they wanted me to measure the amount that I needed to compensate for pulling down the shocks. Since I thought this was an easy measurement to do, I hadn't thought about removing the wheels and tires. When I removed both upper rear shock bolts, this time I didn't have to pull down on the shocks to remove or install the bolts, but it looked like I had to lift up the shocks by about 1/2 (0.5) inch. I was contemplating why the difference compared to when I first installed the rear brackets (I hadn't yet realized that the weight of the tires would cause an issue), when suddenly the rear suspension dropped another 2 inches until the rear tires were resting against the body panels. This is when I discovered that the rear axles had pulled out of the CV joints at the wheel hub end. So now you can learn by my mistake.
I'm told that when you reassemble everything, it's a good time to change the clip at the end of the axle that retains the axle in the CV joint to one from the Maverick instead of the one from the Commander (thanks Acefire for this tip). Luckily I have a dealer close by so I should be able to order these clips. I haven't done this yet, so I can't confirm it. At this point, it's also pretty easy to install the "axle-stenders" since you already have everything disassembled as needed to install the extenders.
I was also told to get new CV boot clamps and the installation tool from a NAPA store instead of trying to use the almost impossible to install Can-Am boot clamps. I'll also confirm this later when I get a chance to finish this.
I hope this helps some others. My guess is that this information is good for just about any brand of bracket lift, so there is no need to mention any specific brand at this point.
