nick01:

You have to maintain them in order for the drum brakes to seal!

I have had many machines with disk brakes and for me I would much prefer the tripple seal drums that come whith the Honda" But they must be greased at every 600 miles with a marine grade grease."This my opinion and do understand you have yours.

I now have 5600 miles and my brakes look just like the day I bought the bike and yes I do ride in mud and water.

Back to the oringinal topic I would say if you are not going to put high mileage every year get the one that fits your style best.


Later

Mark

 

I have to clean them out after every big mud run, sometimes I have as few as twenty miles on the freshly cleaned brakes then dip off in the mud and water for an hour sometimes longer and they are full of crud again. Yes, I do know how to clean the brakes and they work great until I come to those mud holes, if I could only learn to go around them more often the brakes would work great longer. One of my friends has an 02 model rancher and I had to clean the breaks out on his about two weeks ago for the first time, it's three months old also. The drums do ok until the first time something gets in them and then it's down hill after that, well at least for everyone with honda's that I know in my area.

 

Do you regrease the tripple seals after you clean them out? If so tell me how you do it.

 

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]We have them all in our club excluding the 500I.The Rubicon is an excellent choice.the transmission is excellent,no lag,quick,and downhills great.The ride is decent also ....much better than my 450es.The ruby isnt friendly to large tire and wheel kits though,seems to sap an awful lot of the get-up-and-go from it.Long term durability unknown yet.I own a 300a.c 4by4. and love it.I have the 99 model which has the locking front diff.(simple modification).I run it in middle range and it will run rings around my 450es.Ride is so much better.traction much better.quiet.......wont out run the 450 on the top end side though.the 300 also has low range for serious pulling .Ground clearance could be better.It is a full size machine and I highly recommend it.The rancher is a good durable unit but small in size and a bit antiquated in the suspension dept.I feel its a kids machine and will get you there and back.if you must have the honda in that class go up to the 450s or get the old foreman 400,they are as reliable as they come and can be bought in low 5000 range. I think you will have a tough time beating the 300 cat for the money.Figure upper middle 4000 for price.

 

I had 2000 miles on my 99 AC 500 and still had the original brake pads on it. Never had a problem with them. Not through mud or snow or water or anything. As far as cleaning, all I ever did was spray them with the hose when I was washing it. No problem with the Grizzly brakes either.

The honda drums were good til the seals got old and then the brakes were totally devastated. There is no way I would ever want drums over discs. Ever wonder why all the cars and light trucks are getting away from drum brakes??? I had an 86 S10 and a 90 Silverado and both vehicles didn't keep their rear drums very long before they needed the shoes replaced. My 2000 Silverado has 77000 miles on the same set of disc brakes and still has a lot of life left in them.

Sorry man, I'm sure its a preference thing, and I understand about maintaining the drum seals, but all of the facts just seem to point out a lot of advantages to disc brakes. Honda doesn't put drums on their race quads. I also don't care for pulling the brake housing off to waste an hour digging mud out of the drums and using 2 cans of brake cleaner on them either. I don't see how Nick01 has had the patience to do this as often as he has, but the guy has completely cleaned out his brakes a dozen times probably in the last year and a half.

 

I grease the seals in the same place that they have grease put on at the factory, on the middle seal and sometimes the inner and outer parts to but it all works out the same result wise. You have to make sure not to put to much grease on them also cause you could have the grease leak onto the brake shoes. I regrease the wheel bearings also and before long I will have them replaced under warranty because they are starting to get worn out. Andy my patients are running thin with those drums, when they get mud in there repeatedly it kind of takes the fun out of muddin and I go in the goo less and less all of the time. Goattrotter how can drums you say you take apart and clean every 600 miles be better than disc that you just wash off at the carwash and don't spend all of that time fixing them. My cousins 600 grizz (POS) was in the shop often but in two years and 3,500 miles he never messed with the front disc brakes and every time you grabbed the lever it would stop on a dime, the back drums worked only 3-4 months and they were never touched again because they were not needed.

The rubi being inadiquate to pull big tires is crap I have done everything with the 27's that I could do with the 25" tires. You do not lose much in speed if any at all and stick it in low and those big tires will me moving easy up hills and through deep mud. With or without the big tires I can smoke my friends 450 in a drag race. The rancher is also a nice bike and far from a kids quad and I thought the 300 ac was a little underpowered when I tested it well maybe it is just overweight, on the other hand the ac 500i seems like a nice bike.

 

nick01:

What kind of grease do you use?

Thanks

 

Most of the time a good marine grade of grease, when I am out I use some other kind, I get the same results no matter what I use.

 

Check your vent hoses. The only time I ever had dirt in my drums was when 1 hose got torn off while stuck in teh mud. I cleaned out the drum and have never had a problem since. My bike is a '98, shoes are original, seals are original, still has lots of stopping power, and brakes dont' freeze up or squeek after a run like my freinds disk brake bikes.

 

Try OMC tripple guard ,It is made from Evenrude and it works great!