Hello, I am new to this forum. I have a 2003 rancher 2x4 and 2003 recon. I was wondering if it will harm anything to take the air box cover off while at high altitudes, or any altitude. It runs great at the higher altitudes with the cover off, and I am assuming as long as I don't submerge the atv in water over the seat everything will be ok. All opinions appriciated.:confused

 

If anyone is wondering about the user name, I have a Tundra and Honda atv's.

 

I think you'll find the closer you get to sea-level with the air box lid off you're going to be drawing too much air and run lean. At higher altitudes you'll notice it's okay, because of the thin air, which means too much fuel, not enough air. Taking off the airbox lid is a good remedy for that, assuming you're at an altitude that it runs okay. I've tried it at about 400ft above sea-level, and my bike ran like crap. I'd have to re-jet to compensate.

As far as running your bike with the lid off, maybe get a pre-filter of some sort, a weave cover, or a lid with integrated filter. If you ride through any dust or water, you don't want any of that getting in your motor. Of course, I know you know that, I just like to type so it looks like I'm working. Ohhh.... if my boss only knew.....J/K lol [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

Thank you. I live in Utah and most of my riding will be above 4,000 ft. I have considered re-jetting it, however I was told it is only altitude specific. I would rather take the cover off when it runs badly at about 8,000 feet then re-jetting the carb. The recon runs great at any altitude, and the rancher coughs a bit until I let the cover off. It sounds pretty good with the cover off too.

 

That's for sure about the sound! Gotta nice meaner throaty noise!