My Dad has an '01 Kodiak 400 4x4 that he bought new. It's totally stock, with only a winch and fender bags added. He bought it with the intended purpose of hunting and trail riding. However, he has since spent most of his time riding with me and my lil' brother at Little Sahara ( My brother and I both have DS650s ) which leaves his Kodiak way out of it's enviroment. Most of what it lacks is suspension. He has little problem keeping up with us on smoother trails and in the open dune areas, but as soon as the trail gets bumpy or zig zag, his 4x4 literaly becomes a bear to handle. It bottoms out easily and the front end tries to roll under in corners.
My question is: Would the addition of shocks, tires, exhaust, etc. make a noticeable enough differance; and if so what do you suggest? He thought about trading it for a sport quad, but he does still take it hunting on occasion and likes having the storage to carry along items. Keep in mind that I'm not asking for a few "magic" bolt ons to make a Kodiak run with a DS650. Dad just wants something that don't beat him up as bad while casually running follow-the-leader through the dunes behind my brother and I.

 

Why can't you take a DS hunting?

 

You ever tried to ride a DS through heavily wooded areas?

Seriously, is the only way to get more "sport" out of a Kodiak "sport/utility", to trade it for a sport quad?

 

I see you missed my joke..............................

 

If you want to get that "diving/rolling" effect out of the Kodiak, you can adjust the front shocks to stiffen them up a bit. That will you to take the softness out of the frontend, but you may still get that bumpy ride. You need to decide which is worse.........a somewhat bumpy ride over rough terrain, or a soft diving frontend. Try adjusting those front shocks before sticking a bounch a money into that Kodiak. The rear shock is adjustable also.

 

what's a dune?

 

Thanks koolkodiak, but he's already tried that. I'm not sure if they've been tightened all the way, though. It did help it out, but it still wants to roll under. It looks like Dad will probably just trade for a sport quad of some sort since admittingly, the majority of his time is "sport" riding. I just thought it would save $$, by maybe finding some mods that would make the Kodiak easier to ride for where he rides it. As silly as it may seem, he just may be one of the only deer hunters aboard a DS...just let em' try and get away... [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

I see you are seeing things my way now................................[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

whats a dune lol thats too funny