A friend of mine just bought a used 04' 400 auto. It's his first 4-wheeler so he's not too firmilar with it's operation. The guy he bought it from said he thinks it has to be rolling when you put it in 4 wheel drive? Doesn't make much sense to me becuase if your stuck in 2 wheel then it's too late to help. Bear in mind the original owner only put 160 miles on it in 2 years. My friend said when he mashed the button to take it out of 4 wheel he heard a clunk. He also said he didn't notice any difference in the steering in 2 or 4 wheel drive. I would think there would be a noticeable difference so I wonder if it actually locked in the front wheels. I'm going over to look at it in a couple of days so I would appreciate any feed back as I've heard good things about cats but haven't ridden one yet.

 

My 2005 manual says:

"CAUTION Do not attempt to either engage or disengage the front differential while the ATV is moving."

and the 2004 has the same differential.

Steering difference is negligable as the front differential is still rotating just not connected to the drive shaft. You should feel the difference with the locker engaged.

 

Bear,

On the 04-400 there is no locker. And as for putting it in 4wd while the bike is moving or stopped.. If thats what the manual says hen by all means do it.. But my 03 has the leaver in the left side fender and i have hit it a few times while moving and never had any troubles... Now when i put my locker on.. They tell you to me moving at mim a few miles an hr at most 10.. Befor it goes right in.....

As for the steering in 4wd.. yes you won't notice that big of a difference as it's a limited slip frt end.. Making it able to be steered on harder ground.

Mark

 

Thanks, it doesn't have a locker when I said locked in I ment the front wheels were engaged. And of course the fellow that he bought it from couldn't find the manual. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-frown.gif[/img]

 

I used to have a 2004 400 auto 4x4, it was a great quad. FOr the 4x4, you can engage it as long as the wheels are not spinning at different speeds. When you flip the switch, you should be able to hear the actuator make a noise. Thus knowing it is working. Or, try turning the machine off, then just turn the key to the on position and flip the 2x4/4x4 switch and you will for sure hear it work. Your friend also needs more miles on his ATV, the 400's don't really get broken in until the 300 mile mark. Good luck! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]