I have a 400i 4x4 w. about 100 miles on it. The rear brake pedal has never worked well. It will not hold the machine back on even a slight down grade. This stinks because some fool put the auto shifter on the left side, and I'd like to use the foot brake when I shift gears, instead of having to brake with the left hand and reach across with my right hand to shift gears.

Also, while crawling around the brakes seem to squeak a lot. The conditions have been wet since I bought it. Is this a problem, or caused by the wet brakes?

 

None of the foot brakes work! Wet brakes will squeak!

 

Just bought my '03 400 and the foot brake works poorly. This is my first atv so I kinda assumed this was normal. Sounds like it is. I had it out today in the snow and yep, the brakes squeak.

 

Really can't see much use for that pedal anyway. Whats it good for??

 

At first the rear brake on mine did not do much. I guess it needed the rear disk to be smooth. Then at about 300 miles the rear brake needed adjustment (the cable stretched). Now I never expected much out of the rear brake, but it will hold me in about any position, and in downhills on loose rock/gravel it will lockup the rear (only if in 2WD) and allow the back tires to slide. To me this is doing everything it was designed to do.

A lot of people complain about the master cylinder pressure drop, or a need to "pump" the brakes, which I also noticed when changing altitude. I sliced a small notch in the top of the gasket near the vent port on the master cylinder which fixed the problem (I guess the cylinder couldn't breathe).

Oh, by the way, my brakes squeek when wet too. I think this is quite normal.

D

 

Brakes squeeking when wet is normal. Mine do it all the time.

The rear brake (via the foot pedal) IS useless. Mine broke (it's a separate mechanism from the hydrolic brake back there) and I am not bothering to fix it (it's a $90 part). The only time I ever bothered to use it is when I was tensioning the winch cable (which is also when it broke).

I do agree that it's a pain for that left handed shifter, though. AC should have put brake levers on BOTH sides, IMHO.

 

Rear brakes are the first to go. I have never known anyone to have reoccuring problems with the disk though.

Us eyour break lock to hold you in place when shifting and useing your left hand to do both gearing and diff changing.. Also it is not reccomended to shift into 4x4 once you are in the mud. Do this before you enter into the unkown. This is proven to prolonge you bikes shafts,gears and joints

 

Mine broke too! Probably always was..there was always a rattle. Dealer said let her break in. Warranty over, now I find it! It is the princal of it. Recalls for Ball joints, break lever lock, weak breaks, and now a broken caliper.
What response did you get from the dealer? AC? apparently if you had no satisfaction.
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The reason the pedal does not work well is that it is a mechanical, not hydr. unit. There are 2 seperate disk brake setups on the rear disk inside the wheel. The first one is from the single left hand lever brake. The second is from the mech. brake pedal. I just removed mine today. There is really no reason to have a rear brake activation of this sort on this bike. After the first couple of good mud holes the pedal did not work enough to notice. It never will. If you need rear wheel braking during a downhill, simply downshift into the lowest gear you have (low 1st for maunual, low range for auto) 2WD!!!! and use your brake handle to modulate the front brakes. Yes, I said 2WD. If you use 4WD on a steep hill and don't know what your doing you will end up going end over end. That's why I suggest 2WD and use your front brakes to slow yourself.

 

Funny you mentioned that. I just did that exact thing earlier today. I guess I'm too used to riding my Honda 300. After some creative body work with a 2x4, looks like I will get away with just replacing the speedo. I also believe having the spring pre-load on the lowest setting was a major factor. I tried adjusting them with that crap pot metal spanner and it broke of course. So now I have one on 3 and one on 1 on the front. I also broke several teeth off the adjusting collar on the shock.

If anyone from Arctic Cat is reading this; LOSE THE POT METAL CRAP!!!

Done venting, time to go soak in the hot tub : (