I am new to the ATV world. Just recently this year I started riding with my friend. He has an Artic Cat 400 4X4 with independent suspension all the way around. Rides very nice. Well, I have been looking to buy an ATV and have found one that has a straight suspension in the rear. It is a Yamaha Kodiak 400 4X4. It is in excellent condition and the price is good. I'm looking to get some opinions on if its a decent ride and if its worth spending my 3 G's on it or hold out to find a rig with independent all the way around. Thanks in advance.

Jason Carlton

 

I personally prefer IRS. As most other people here will tell you, it depends on what you are planning on doing with your ATV. If you are just doing general trail riding, you are likely better off with the independent suspension as you will have better clearance. The trad-off is more moving parts and some will say they are not as stable, though most never have any issues. If you are towing heavy stuff or loading it down, that would be another good reason to go with a straight axle in the rear. You will probably be ok going either route, but a machine with IRS will be more comfortable and you will notice after a full day of riding.

 

It seems to be a matter of personal preference as far as the ride goes. And the type of riding you do mostly.

If you do a lot of towing and hauling, it seems the SRA is better than IRS as the tongue weight is on the axle with SRA and on the suspension with IRS.

Also for aggressive sport riding, SRA is a better option because it corners better and stays flatter in the off-camber sections. IRS has more body roll as would be expected.

But for trail cruising, or "on the seat" riding IRS is much more comfortable. You can keep your butt on the seat with IRS in sections that would require standing up with SRA. IRS is also better for slow rock crawling, or gnarly mud, or crazy rutted and rough trails in general. IRS has more ground clearance which helps in all the previously mentioned areas, especially rocks and mud.

I would certainly not let a SRA stop you from buying something, especially if you are new to the sport. You will learn to ride on whatever you choose. IMO a SRA is better for a newbie since they are more stable in the off-camber sections. The solid rear axle is a bit harder to roll-over. But at the same they say IRS will climb a steeper hill since they have a higher balance point in the rear.

So really as you can see, neither choice is perfect for everyone, or every application. Most people just pick the one they will get the most fun out of.....

 

For my comparison i have a 94 sportsman 400 2 stroke. it has a solid rear axle. I also have a 2005 sportsman 800 with the independent rear suspension. Guess what. I love my 05 but when it comes time to maintenance i love my 94.

Independent rears have cv joints, cv shafts, boots, more bushings, seem to have weaker wheel bearings ( had to replace mine on the 05 at 1300 miles when i bought it, 94 has maybe 5000 miles and no signs of wheel bearings bad)

My 94 is chain driven. Anyone who thinks chains are trash i think are foolish. Its cheap and easy to fix and very reliable. I put over 2000 miles on my 94 with the chain it came with. Dont know how many miles were on it before that. When you get into shaft drive you have 20 times more points of failures. Just look how much is would cost to replace a rear diff (sometimes 800-1000dollars just for the part!!!) rather then a chain and sprocket (60-70 bucks?) and never mind 200 bucks for a cv shaft. In any case the atv your talking about is most likely shaft driven anyway so im rambling about something that doesnt matter to you.

As far as the ride goes. Honestly the difference to me isnt all that great. Does the independent ride better. Yea, a little, but its not as dramatic as the marketing dept would have you believe. The solid axle works the front suspension more in very rough terrain since the swing arm can only move up and down but can not articulate. How that translates into riding comfort isnt all that big of a deal. Ill just say it like this. I have ridden both all day and both are very comfortable.

No matter what they say about ground clearance on the independent rear suspension it bottoms out a lot more then my solid axle... And thats with 27" tires on the independent 25" on the solid..... the independent suspension is dynamic meaning its ground clearance changes with weight, or when you stab the throttle, hit a bump, whatever.... a solid axle's ground clearance does not change at the wheels.

I would almost go as far as to say independent rear suspension on an atv is a marketing ploy. is it smoother? I guess? Is it dramatic? i dunno... it really isnt for me, but your preferences may be WAY different. I mean they use a sway bar which counter acts a lot of the INDEPENDENT SUSPENSION. The IRS sure does look cooler though... Im very happy with the way both machines ride...

In the end you need to get out there and ride different wheelers. you need to decide if IRS is a big deal to YOU.

 

A picture is worth a 1000 words. Notice how the seat says level even off chamber riding, if it was SRA the riders seat would be sloped over like the terrain and the diff pumpkin would be hitting every rock on the trail higher than 5" high.

 

that picture is also with the sway bar disconnected.

Try high speed trail riding like that. I guarantee the seat will be off camber going around turns... lol. The sway bar will limit independent movement.

 

Thanks guys for all the input. I am gonna be patient until I find the right quad (W/IRS). As I am getting older my back is hurting more and more, so IRS is the only way to go for me!

 

If your back is hurting like mine does you don't want to go with a straight axle machine. I've got both with the ATP and the X2. Similar machines. Both have 400 lb. rear rack ratings. I've driven both for miles and can tell you the X2 with IRS is much less punishing on the back than the straight axle on the ATP.