Hi, been a while since I've been on ATV Connection but I thought I'd stop in to toss a few hints for RTV owners to consider, that I've seen debated a few times other places; First I'd like to possibly warn some folks who are wasting their money on the shackle lift-kit for the rear of this machine. When you install the the longer shackle, yes you are moving the hubs away from the under-belly of the machine, but this comes at a cost that is probably not even really giving you any usable increase in clearance, and here is why. The cross member/link across the rear that has the hitch receiver on it is actually being angled more towards the ground, and if anything you are losing clearance this way, as I've noticed on my machine that when entering creeks and the such, this cross-member is what always actually bottoms-out on the banks and high-spots, and that shakle kit is only, like I've said, pointing the whole works more to the ground, so you've only purchased a degrade. Also, the rtv has super short CVs, and so the increased angle is doing nothing but stressing those already short shafts and joints! You would have to drop the leaf springs in both the front and rear to achieve any usable lift on this machine, and if you lift only the front struts, what is that doing except taking a machine that already kind of squats in the rear and making it squat even more!. Best as I can tell, it's best to leave the RTV suspension well enough alone, and at best go up in tire. I have 27" MudLites and it's actually picked-up a few MPH and still has plenty of stump pulling grunt down low...not a hill I cant climb that I did before. Another issue I've seen folks complain about over and over is the early failure of the CVs, and especially on the rear of the machine, and here is a likely cause I had to explain to my oldest son a few times before booting him off my machine due to hard-headedness. We have guys who love to lock that rear diff and over use it, even when not needed at all! You have a machine that weighs almost 2000Lbs with CVs and a locked rear differential, out making turns on hard-packed ground, asphault and concrete with a locked/spooled rearend...something has to give when you make those turns on something so heavily planted to the ground!..you absolutely HAVE to unlock that diff when not in very loose material, or you will stress those joints, to be sure of it!
Our machine was totaled after rolling sideways down a huge hill (With me in it) and so i took that wreck and began doing some decent mods to it, as follows; The RTV had hydrolic steering. It also has enough room to seat three people sise by side, and especially if you move the outter seatbelt latches further out on the rear ROPS post. Lose the bench, the riser-blocks under it and the plastic cover, install three off-road buckets. you will have to re-locate the radiator and hydro resevoirs, later explained. Since we can go 3 x, why have the operator off to one side, when the steering is hydro lines anyway, you can cut all the upper console out, and re-locate the steering to the center of the machine. This will require welding skills, as well as basic measuring. I relocated the brake resevoir down in the compartment below the black plastic lid that gives access to the steering lines and rack, which is all obviously below the hood. I later purchased a wore-out polaris Scrambler, cut the top portion of the frame off of it, and welded that upper frame right smack between the wheel wells in the front, just like you were sitting on a quad now, with it running all the way back to the cross support that the hydro resevoirs and radiator were attached to, and welded it at that end as well. Now I had a new steering motor/wheel support colum, and check this out, a spare 3.3 gallon reserve fuel tank, as I retained the scrambler tank. I've also created a tunnel right up the middle now in which to run radiator hoses from the motor, to where the new location for the radiator, which is now in a normal location...just behind the brushgard up front, fully protected and recieving much needed direct air intake!..it runs so much cooler now! Next I will remove the e-brake assembly from its location, and remove the factory fuel tank, relocate it to where the e-brake was, but only after removing the battery and relocating it in the hole where the fuel tank was! Why? Well, if you end-load the tank, from the rear, into the e-brake compartment, and with the way the tank is shaped, that will offer much better protection for the tank from hits, as it will be all the way inside the frame this way, with the fill lid just under the forward bed. The only draw-back is that you would have to lift the bed to fill the tank, which wont be too often, as you just picked-up an extra 3.3 gallons, and the factory tank has an extra nipple blocked-off right on the RTV tank, to hook your new 1/4 " fuel line to, from the Scrambler tank, which is controlled by the petcock from the scrambler!...its fun watching the needle from the empty RTV gage go from empty to half a tank when you flip the petcock from the scramber tank...takes about four minutes for it to gravity-feed the three gallons to the RTV tank...I really got off on that one after thinking it out and then watching it happen exactly the way I saw it in my head! Anyway, most of the body was busted, so i decided not to even re-install it after replacing it. Instead, I've gone with industrial cage metal in most locations where it is needed, and even in the brushgard, after straightening it back out. Folks see me coming down the trail they get the heck out of my way these days, as it's starting to look serious! The machine took on an all new feel and fun factor once driven from the center...so much easier to judge and control now. You now sit about 5 inches lower in the machine, which obviously gives lower center of gravity, not that it was ever an issue on the RTV, but still, and the steering wheel is now on a better/sportier angle to the operator, and you can fill the extra tank right through the spokes of the steering wheel, like it was meant to be that way. I actually/honestly like the machine ten times better than when it was new!
Obviously you will want to be outside of your warranty before doing anything like this to your machine, if ever, and I guess you'd want to have a pretty smashed-up machine, but looking back, I may even do it if I bought another new one. Folks who see it say I should consider offering it as a conversion kit, as it's a blast now and looks mean, but it takes some work. Small things like re-shaping the brake pedal and gas pedal and locations, and relocating the brake lines...lots of small things that take some time.
Anyway, rant-off. Just want to offer some advice on the no-good lifts out there for this machine, and some things to consider...like leaving the diff-lock off!