I am the recent owner of a 2000 500A I was not looking to buy an auto, but the deal was right, I thought ($3500), so I got it. Can it handle 28x12-12 and 28x10-12 Gators without problems I'm not concerned with rubbing I don't ride aggressively. If I need a little clearance I'll try the spring spacer trick. Also, does any one else ever here the belt chirp? I have expierenced this several times in the past couple of months. This concerns me... Is there anything I can do for it? It does it when in a bind and so far its only a quick chirp.

 

Don't worry about the chirp. If you were to make slow, gradual stops you would never hear it. The chirp or bark as it is sometimes referred to, is as follows:

On the AC automatic the belt is constantly moving even at idle. If you come to an abrupt stop the drive and driven pulleys are not in their normal idle position. When they are not positioned properly at acceleration they move to the proper places and slide along the sides of the belt. that is what caused the chirp. If you do a normal stop the pulleys go to the correct position and the belt moves along with it, therefore no noise.

 

Gotta call you on this one minehunter. On the AC automatic the belt and pulleys are NOT spinning at idle. There is an extra sprag clutch on the crankshaft on the inside of the primary clutch that engages the whole works when you give it throttle. Hence if you stop quickly the clutches do not back shift completely and cause the chirp when you start moving again. In theory this system should give you longer belt life because the primary clutch is not pinching down on a non moving belt like on a snowmobile or polaris quad at take off. The belt and pulleys are "locked" together at all times. This is why they use bearings in the clutch cover also to help support the clutches at both ends. Seems the belt is under a fair amount of tension even when the quad is stopped. Hope this explains it. The chirp is nothig to worry about sounds worse than it is.

 

You're absolutly correct on the pulleys. I misspoke. I knew they are stopped but it just didn't click in my head. I guess it was a brain fart. Being stopped in the unback shifted mode is what causes the chirp or bark. Again sorry for the misinformation. I just turned 50 and have CRS (can't remember s#@$).

 

Thanks for the info guys, I won't worry about it any more. Rob