I have a sp500, 2000 w/20hrs on it. I luv it, but last week I was riding in about 5" of mud and noticed a loud rubbing noise coming from the front brakes. Got home and washed it removing any trace of mud. Now it sqeeks all the time. Should i excercise the warranty and have the front brakes replaced, or will the sound just go away? What to do.

 

If u front brekes are drum Then the breke pad is glazed over. this has happend to me. You could sand the breke pad or use the warenty

 

Upon returning from a long ride on my new Scrambler, only 150 miles on it my front brakes were shot! Use the warranty!!! My dealer told me that sometimes the discs are rough at first causing noise and wear. They smooth out after a set of pads or two. Use the warranty! If mine wear out again the dealer is going to change the calipers and the pads...

I have finally found a good-warranty dealer! Too bad they know nothing about mods!

 

I would agree with xplor on the warranty issue. That should always be the first option. My 98 magnum ate the first set of pads up pretty fast and I took it back and had the mechanic check it out and he found nothing wrong. I should have been a bigger jerk and had them replace the pads, but they told me that wasn't covered under the warranty. The mechanic did tell me to bleed them often. This is what I have learned about Polaris brakes:

1. They need to be bleed out often. If my machine sits idle for longer than a month, I will need to bleed them out.

2. The brakes will make some noise after coming out of deep mud. Clean them the best you can and repeat step 1.

3. If you are having continued trouble took the calibers off and cleaned them up with brake cleaner. I took the pads and rubbed them on the workbench over some fine sandpaper and removed the top layer. I then took some fine sandpaper over a block and started the machine on jack stands with the 4 wheel drive engaged and smoothed the disc brake down some (takes off any rough edges). After reassembly, I rode it pretty hard and leaned on the brakes hard to seat them in good.

4. If you are continuing to have trouble, check to see that the brake disc are not warped. I have read several post that the guys have gotten new ones on the warranty claims.

5. The above has worked pretty well for me as the first set lasted 3 months with the second set lasting 2 years and still with plenty of pad left. If all else fails repeat step 1.

 

I had the same type of trouble with my 2000 Scrambler 400 2X4 with about 3 hours on the quad. I removed and cleaned the pads, sanded them on a flat surface with 180 grit sandpaper, applied automotive "disc brake anti squeal" to the backs of the pads and reassembled everything paying attention to keep everything clean.
NO MORE NOISE !!!!
If you don't use the warranty service at the Polaris dealer, try the above, it worked for me.

 

Warranty will not cover brake pads. If you do alot of mud riding or sandy creeks like I do, replace the pads with home made brass pads if you know someone with a machine shop. It's easy to do and cheap. $40 to repalce all pads verses $90 or try different grade of pad. You can waste the pads in one days ride.

 

i also had the same problem with my 98 exploer. do alot of mud and sand went to my dealer and got ceramick pads and no more pads in over 500+ miles.