How do u know if front bearings or axles are bad on 2003 Polaris ranger 500

bearings if you jack up the front end and can wobble your tires up and down aand feel play there bad and the axles usually dont go bad they just break

so what causes axle to break and how do you test to know if it is broken

they will be broke....as in not together...but it takes alot of stress on the front end or riding on bad bearings for a long time for that to happen.

just jack it up and wobble the tires like he said. or just replace them anyway....gettin about that time.

check your shocks too

thanks for the help

The way to check your axles are to physically grab each axle and wiggle it around if if moves, it's broke. If you drive it and you hear popping like a bad CV joint then the axle is bad.
They are very easy to replace, and usually never just go bad on their own they are a sealed piece, and only go bad if the boot is torn or to much stress put on one particular tire while under a load.