We all know about the problem with the Polaris EBS locking up the rear wheels going down hills. Well Polaris still makes the Magnum 500 in Australia and it has VISCOLOCK that fixes that problem. So why hasn't this made its way on the US Sportsman's?

2004 Magnum 500

 

Doesnt the Viscolock ket the 4wd on at all times? I believe that they also had it on their "Perfossional Series" sportsmans

 

What you are talking about is a viscouse coupleing in the transmission. It is a full time/part time 4 wheel drive system just like a jeep grand cherokee. It does not have the on demand 4wheel drive. So when going down hill all 4 tires are slowing you down unlike the on demand version. This is the heavy duty version of the magnum. It would cost way to much in the U.S to purchase something like this. When driving normal its like it is in 2 wheel drive untill the viscouse senses slippage from the front tires and then locks the clutch in hense the viscolock 4x4 system. Just like a Jeep. I know this because I used to work for jeep. Any full time/part time 4x4 has a viscouse either in the trans or a transfer case.

 

On my '05 700 EFI I hauled out an elk last week that I shot. I loaded all the meat on the rear rack. Let me tell you about scary climbing the mountain into the area first, twice I almost flipped backwards due to the steepness. Then coming down I left it in 4 low and I did not lock up the rear end coming downhill at home. I was going pretty slow for most of it because if I lost control, I would have rolled for hundreds of feet and demolished a brand new machine.

I'll do alittle testing and see if it changed for the '05 model year.

dave

 

Bombardier owns the U.S. patent rights to Viscolock....The Outlander has it, as do the Traxter and Qwest, but the Outlander also has shift on the fly 2wd/4wd, inboard disc brakes, trailing arm IRS....Clearly the Outlander is the 400 class leader....and the Polaris 400 is way back.

 

in your opinion.....why does some dude always have to come in and toot there own horn? get a life ...i love my machine and im happy u love your ...now hit it loser!

 

hey pal the outlander 400 isnt shift on the fly i know that for a fact cuz my buddy busted up his front diff trying to do that. and he wasnt spinning his rear tired if thats what your thinkin

 

Actually the Visco lok is located in the front of the atv, it is the front pumpkin, it performs the same function as the centralized hilliard on current Polaris models. But you definitely explained it correctly how it works.
Polaris uses it on their international models i believe and the Professional series model Magnum had it too. But those are not made anymore. The 2002 Magnum RMK was the only other US model made with visco lok. The system works well, but it does not give you the On demand AWD that Polaris touts. There's a good video somewhere on the Polaris website about their on demand system that shows how it works better than the competition w/ visco lok style awd. Visco lok is like having 3.5 wheel drive. one wheel has to spin faster on the other side, then the other wheel kicks in and you have awd. Only really good thing is there is very little maintenance.