I have been looking at the sportsman and have been pretty impressed. The only thing I did not like that the salesman said is that there is a plastic component in the front end that breaks leaving you without 4 wheel drive at all. He says it happens when you really get after it and because of the difference in wheel spin or something, that it puts to much torque on that component and snaps it. I asked him if it was only when in four wheel drive, and he said " NO, there is something in the program that will make it engage even when in 2 wheel drive mode if there is too much slip in the rear end." Sounded crazy, or like a flaw in the program, but if that is the case I could see where a cheaper plastic component could not handle the load and would break if it engages a bit later. He says he has had 4 of 7 come back in because of this since hunting season. Any word or experience with this?

 

Sounds like a load of Salesman garbage. The four wheel drive on the Polaris is rock solid. The biggest problems I here are sometimes wiring when somebody has goofed with it or lack of maint. on the front hubs. If the salesman knows so much have him point this plastic piece out to you that keeps breaking. I have learned not to trust most salesman. If a salesman is honest with me he has a customer for life. Jay

 

It sounded funny about the four wheel drive engaging when not engaged, I thought it must be a programming error, or sensor error or something silly. I couldn't imagine why the front would ever engage when not in AWD. AND when in AWD there is only a 1/5 of a turn which should not create that much of a discrepancy to transfere enough torque to cause that damage. I will try to find out more about the part and it's location. Anyone else?

 

What that lame-brain sales guy is trying to tell you is that under the right AND RARE condition, the AWD COULD AND I MEAN COULD self-engage. It has nothing to with programming. These machines were designed for maximum traction and should be treated as such, not like a 2WD donut maker. What happens in the winter time around here is idiot people spinning donuts under 2WD full throttle in the snow or on the lake. Friction takes over in the front gearcase due to cold lube, thick (not OEM) lube, old/unchanged lube. There's a tension spring in the front gearcase that keeps the engagement rollers from engaging. Once this combination of friction and centrifugal force happens, it overcomes the spring tension and the rest -- as they say -- is history. This is an extremely rare occurence and is not an indicator of a design flaw.

Don't let this explanation scare you away from buying. These are an excellent quads.

 

Very well put[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

sounds like he's trying to get you to change your mind on a polaris, to buy some other p.o.s that pays him a higher commission!

 

Thanks for the replys. It makes sense that they would be coming back since hunting season, especially with the snow and cold we get here in Michigan.

 

The front wheels don't engage with any kind of sensor or computer. It is very simple how it works. With the 4wd (AWD) switch in the 'ON' position, if the rear tires spin about 17% faster (or more) than the front tires (say your back tires were on a patch of ice and the fronts were not), then the front hub engages and delivers power to the front wheels. Without seeing the mechanism it is a bit hard to describe, but picture a 'cam' of sort with 6 lobes (or sides on it... kinda almost stop-sign shaped- but a hexagon). This cam resides in the front diff (or on older SPs this function happened on the front left/right hubs at the wheel) and is always 'linked' to the rear wheels via drive shafts... anyway, when the rear tires spin more than the fronts, there are some rollers that ride and rise up on that cam device and the rollers wedge or push themselves outward against the hub. It's this wedging out that locks the front wheels in. Even with the AWD switch in the 'ON' position the front wheels will 'unlock or un-wedge' themselves as soon as you get out of the condition that caused them to lock to begin with. One nice advantage of this system is it gives you TRUE, fully locked 4wd system 'on demand'. So, once you go through an ugly mud hole, once you get to the other side and no longer need all 4 wheels lock, it will automatically go back to 2wd (yes, even with AWD switch on) and you have your steering back!!! Other ATVs either don't have full 4wd or they use a locker to lock the front wheels in that is much less convenient to switch between locked and unlocked. And I have not met anybody who has ever found a weakness in the Polaris 4wd system - it is pretty darn bullet proof.

 

I am very sory to dispute this point about the Polaris 4x4 system BUT, a friend of mine bought a 03' Polaris 700 sportsman and he hated it. We ride hard and fast like most, the problem he had was that going downhill it would kick out of 4x4 and the engine breake would cause the rear wheels to go into a skid!!!!!WTF!! Yea this system sucks down hill!!

 

You are right that the AWD system will not 'normally' lock into 4wd going down hill. And depending on what your preference, you may or may not like it. There is a way to cheat the system and get it to lock and stay locked going down a hill, but to be honest, THAT sucks worse than only having 2wd engine braking. I had it 'accidentally' lock going down hill and that was worse than having just 2wd braking. The steering was so tough I could barely change direction. And even when I turned the wheels, the ATV kept going whatever direction it wanted since there was no differential effect happening. Very scary.

I do wish the Polaris enine braking was not as strong, but otherwise, you do get used to it. And realistically, you only need hi range for going down hills because low is too low and the braking is too much as you pointed out.