I am about ready to buy 2 ATV's, one for me and one for the wife. I know a quite a few Polaris dealers here in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and all seem to hint to stay away from the Polaris because of problem of drive-belt slipping in very wet conditions. Now, I really like a lot of the features on the Polaris Scrambler and Sportsman but, if this belt slipping thing is for real I will have to pass. And if belt-slipping has been an ongoing problem with Polaris, why don't they do something about it? Or is their anything that can be done to seal this compartment to keep water out if I had to do it myself? The only thing that is really keeping me from considering the Polaris brand is this belt slipping deal. Otherwise it looks like I will have to go with 2 Prairie 400 4X4.

Doug
Lillian, TX

 

Don't worry about belt slippage. I have had my Polari for over 5 years and have had a belt slip twice.

My friend drove my Xplorer in a lake up to the racks and it did not slip...and he rode it for at least 1500 feet!

I have had my Scrambler in the water/mud (actually I was stuck at the time) up to the racks and no belt slippage.

The 2001 models all got retrofits on there PVT exausts. They bend more towards the back and are even better than ever. Plus I hear Polaris is giving a limited lifetime warrenty on the belts now...can't be all that bad.

The problem is highly exagerated. Mostly by the competition. You can't go wrong with the SP500 or SC500...

Brian

 

Douger, we see this question a lot. All I can say, is that there is the potential to slip a belt. It's not a big problem. If it were as bad as all that, do you really think there would be so many die hard Polaris fans in here?? My advice is go ahead with the purchase of the Polaris of your choice and I'm very certain you'll love it. They are great bikes. I have ridden all brands and only own 2 Polaris' right now. There are other great bikes out there, but you won't be disappointed by the Polaris. Good luck with what ever you decide on.

 

How nice of them to warn you about belt slippage, yet continually ream others.

If not properly ridden a Polaris CVT may occasionally slip. Having worked for a Polaris dealer it appears to me that most people buying new belts (if it slips and you continue to burn it the sides get glazed) or having other work done as a result, was mostly due to their incompetence or ignorance of how a CVT works.

Proper techinques to avoid such problems are usually outlined in the owners manual, READ IT!

 

The only way your belt will slipp is if you go full speed into a puddle and water gets in the case where the belt is, or alot of polaris quads gaskets on the belt side case arent lined up right. I had polaris scrambler 500 and I really didn't have any problems with the belt slipping, although if you plan on jumping and riding hard they dont hold up, but if your just going out to trail ride there great! So I wouldnt worry about the belt slipping to much unless you like flying through puddles you can go through just about anything as long as its not fast because as I said before water will splah up in the belt case. Next time you look at on see where the opening is for the belt housing I know on the scrambler 500 its right behind the front wheel so once again if gong real fast through deep water it will splash up in and get the belt wet. I am not sure as to where the spotsman or the scrambler 250 or 400 openings are at all I did with my 500scrambler is I ran a piece of thick hose up under my bars because the front of the box (where the opening is) comes right off the belt covering and you can connect a piece of hose there and route it anywhere you want and then you dont ever have to worry about the belt getting wet. If the belt were to get wet though all you have to do is put the quad in neutral and let it run while giving it a little gas and the belt will dry in a couple of minutes. So whatever you choose have fun and dont be like alot of people I see and ride without helmets no matter how slow you go!

 

As you can see...my concern was what to do in case I do experience this type of trouble. I can say now that I have driven through water up to the bottom of the seat on my SC 500 4X4 with no problem. This bike pulls through water and up hills as fast or as slow as I want too. All this to say...I don't how much water you plan to ride in, but if you get the belt wet on the SC500, you better be wearing a life jacket. I am a proud new owner....and it has enough power to wheelie...stock!!!

'01 SC 500 4X4
'00 Trail Boss ( wife loves it)

 

there is no belt slippage problem, I am on my second Polaris first one was a 2000 Xplorer 250 4x4 and now my 2000 Sportsman , I have 1800 miles on it and not once has it slipped, even when riding double thrugh a stream, with water coming over the front racks, not a hint of a slip. Polaris has been making belt drives snowmobiles for a long long time, they have it mastered. Only seen one slip and he totally submerged it in 5 feet of water. The Polaris dealer told you to stay away from belt drive?
I ride my Polaris hard, it never failed me yet.

 

Even though I ride a Rubicon without belts, I think this is a dead issue. My wife's TrailBoss has a belt, and we have had no problems with it. If I remember correctly, on all 2001 models, the vent on the transmission was changed, to prevent most opportunities for water to get in. I agree with the Polaris fans, that this is now largely an excuse from the salesman to get you to buy Brand X (whatever they're pushing that day/week/month). I love my Ruby, but I have an extreme amount of respect and admiration for the Polaris machines. And I would not recommend against a Polaris purchase, especially for belt-slippage. Like I said, it's a dead issue.....

 

stop at the beginning of the water put it in low and dont let off the gas,youll go thru water up to the bottom of the seat no problem..once you get it going in the water dont stop..i traded a magnum 325 in for the expedition 425 for 2 reasons,1 more power and second i wanted to shift,its more fun..ride as many as you can and buy whats best for you..oh and if the belt system is so bad like that dealer said then why is it now that polaris has had it on quads since 85 most of the other manufacturers have been using it on the bigger cc quads? must be something good about it.. i got my belt wet twice and both were more my fault for trying to go thru too deep of water,everything has its limits..if you want to go deeper there are alot fo people on these forums that have snorkeled the air intakes and exhaust and are able to go alot deeper,i beleive those people are referred to as submariners

 

I've yet to see a belt slip, and that is between me and my four Polaris riding buddies in two years. We do a lot of high speed stream riding as well. The first time I had my belt cover off, I put a small amount of grease around the cover gasket. I've done this another time since.

I took my Kodiak through a huge mud pit once, and it needed six hours of surgery to get all the mud out of the clutch system. There was enough to fill a 5 lb coffee can.