some thing wrong some where I 've never felt the 4x4 kicking in at any time.I'll take that back at MOab in the sand traveling fast I think that I would sence it,but only that it would quit fishtailing and staighten out.I've ridden some radical stuff and loose stuff and there is no wheel hop,once back wheel spins 1/5th of a turn front kicks in.You have more of a problem than wireing direct.CM

 

Thats because the back wheel just turns a little before engaging the front wheels , just a 1/4 of a turn spin of the rear will lock the front wheels so it's not noticeable.

 

What I would really like to see is Warn or Superwinch make a manual hub for the Sportsman. Last year I replaced the automatic hubs on my Nissan due to failure with the autohub not engaging or disengaging properly. I wanted to replace them with the same hubs but, manuals are just so much cheaper and more reliable.

As far as descending steep grades and having the rear wheels sliding I would be a little bit scared of having the fronts locked in four wheel drive and having them sliding also. No wheel spin on the fronts would also mean no steering and then it is all up to gravity and momentum after that.

 

I beleive you would get wheel slide, when going down steep hills, rather then wheel spin which would mean that the rear wheels would be rotating slower then the front. This situation would be the opposite of front end engagement which requires the rear wheels to rotate faster then the front.

As far as the front wheels locking up and sliding down steep hills, well, let's just say that it would have to be a very steep hill with loose footing for all four to slide. If you aren't comfortable with a little wheel slide you just have to give a little throttle and the wheels stop sliding, that's all, no problem.

Hope this helps.

Jeff

 

With out the sensor the bike would be a Suzuki locker system which is only controlable at slow speeds.With the Polaris you can have true 4wd and still be in control at higher speeds.

 

All this info is great, and I can understand now why there needs to be a little difference in rotation between the front axle (directly connected to the rear wheels) and the front hub (connected to the front wheel)to engage 4-wheel drive. This has to move, relative to each other, for those little rollers to move out and engage. OK.. but now, how can we KEEP them engaged? Once again, like the trick of backing up with the over-ride button depressed?
After all, most 4-wheel drive trucks need a bit to get into 4-wheel drive, but then they are in 4x4 untill YOU disengage. This situation I was in
where my Arctic Cat did better was being watched by a friend who said, on my first attempt,(SP500) which failed, that I could not have been in 4-wheel drive because my back wheels were spinning and my front tires weren't. On my second attempt I put it in low range, and made it, but not without wheelspin, jumping and lurching. The AutoCat had simply crawled right up with almost no loss of traction. Once it is in 4-wheel drive, I would like it to stay there untill I decide to take it out! Let's call it a 4-wheel drive lock or how about 2WD/AllwheelDrive/4-wheel-LOCK?? Yeah, that's the ticket!!
Silly Later, Fourlix

SP500,425EXP,325Mag AutoCat500-FOR SALE

 

Just got back from rideing today and have thought about it all day the only thing I can figure is that you weren't in 4wd.No way that you would not climb that hill in 4x4,and if you were haveing trouble it must not have engaged.The machine is smarter than you it senses when the 4x4 is needed if you don't need it why would you want it?Not trying to be smart aleck just making staement,so don't take this wrong.CM

 

There are no sensors of any kind to try and trick. The four wheel drive system is purely mechanical. The only thing that the switch does is send power to the hub to engage the magnetic plate. My bike is wired to where I can turn the AWD switch on any time I want. It does not have to be in gear and I do not have to hold down the overide button in reverse to get AWD. The only way you could possibly trick the bike would to be change to front gear ratio in the differential. The bikes run a different ratio in the front than they do in the back. This is why it takes 1/3 - 1/4 turn of the back tires to make the front engage. If the bike had the same ratio front and back then the hubs would try to stay engaged all the time. Hope this helps to explain why you cannot make the hubs stay engaged when you want.

 

Hey Chickenman, Fourlix here. I think you may be right. Maybe it just hadn't engaged. It was a very short but steep little headwall and by the time it had engaged it was either too late, (the first time was in AWD&Hi) the second time it seemed to grab, well, halfway up, which is only a couple of feet, this time in AWD&Low. Maybe the
"jump&lurch" was the front wheels engaging and grabbing.
The weird thing is, 2 weeks earlier when I did this little headwall so smoothly in my
Arctic Cat, I then watched a friend on his Sportsman try to climb this same little headwall.
Since I had just ridden his Sp and fallen in love with it and out of love with the AutoCat, I attributed his 2nd attempt, awkward, jump&lurch climb to his poor riding style and lack of skill etc. It surprised the hell out of me when I fared no better 2 weeks later on my new SP. The Honda Foreman and my son's (he'll be 12 in July) Polaris EXP425 did this little wall as well as the Arctic Cat.
So, is this the SP's Achilles heel? This little headwall is only about 5 feet high total with the first 2 feet almost straight up at about 75 degrees, then it rolls off to flat. This little headwall includes a very steep ramp before it, which I expected would be enough to engage the front wheels, but maybe not. I am going to have to try this again, and maybe again, but right now our National Forests around here are closed due to fire danger. Maybe also the dealer needs to look at these hubs, especially since the Expedition handled it just fine.
Meanwhile, we'll have to wait for some rain before we can go back.
Both these machines are new and need servicing anyway. But the fact that both Sportsman had trouble here, and the Honda, AutoCat, and Expedition did fine is just a little
weird. Silly Later, Fourlix

SP500,EXP425,Mag325, AutoCat500 For Sale

 

Hey 425 Expedition, Fourlix here. Say you DON'T have to hold down the over-ride button to get 4-wheel drive in reverse? Because I have watched my son's 00 425EXP try to back up in sand with a front wheel stuck behind a rock, watched the back wheels spin, in AWD, till he hit the over-ride button, then the front wheels engage and he backs out, just like it is supposed to. You mention yours is "wired". Is it wired differently? Did you modify the wiring in some way? Would you tell US? Thanks for the input, are the differentials
really different ratios?
Silly Later, Fourlix

SP500,EXP425,Mag325, AutoCat500 For Sale