I have a 03 600 Sportsman I just got together and the EBS clutches were shot along with the budget. I had some clutches from a 400L out here so I put them on it along with the used stock belt 3211077. It was working pretty well riding in some deep heavy snow in low range, tried it in high range and turned the belt into a rats nest instantly. I drug it back to the shop and put another old used belt in and it worked good for awhile even in high range, but going down the road about 40 it shredded it too. What's the best replacement option for this belt running the bigger 600 motor on the non EBS clutches?

 

Get a new 3211077 belt and use low range under 7mp and under heavy pulling driving conditions.Anytime you use high range and the belt starts slipping and burning,expect problems,sometimes quickly, sometimes down the road a little later on. OEM is the best as many have had problems with aftermarket belts as far as fitment problems. Most are usually too wide. Even more critical to use oem on ebs systems. I had a chart on the wall at the shop showing 9 different ways a belt could be destroyed or fail.8 of these were usually caused by operator error. From what Polaris engineers told me, the clutch system can run up to 160 degrees hotter in high range versus same conditions in low.Excess heat in itself is a killer of belts.

 

Thanks OPT! So I take it then the extra money for the severe or extreme duty belts isn't worth spending. I'll pick up a new stock belt and try to remember to use the low range more with it. A lot of the riding we do is in hilly sandy winding trails through the Nebraska National Forrest and we don't ride them real hard because they are only 1 lane and 2 way traffic. I'm guessing I'll be using the low range a lot.

 

You can go up past 7mp in low range as many do. Doesn't hurt to go faster in low in instances such as climbing up a creek bed. Better on the clutches than to have in high range and do the same thing. Just tougher on the clutches and belt. Like when the Rangers first came out,Polaris informed us low was the primary gear for most cases of riding. High range was for open roads above a constant 10mph with no load.Some people never got the message and kept burning up belts.Might be a good time also to blow out the clutches in an open area to get rid of any belt dust also. Some can make a cloud of dust.

 

I'll do that, I think I'll get a set of buttons for the secondary as well while I have it out, I'm sure they are shot. I had the primary out and changed springs and flyweights and cleaned it all up good as it had some pieces of belt stuck in it from before.

 

I just replaced my original belt on my 2003 600, last fall. It was starting to slip a little bit in high gear. I did replace it with a Dayco HPX2204 and I have been very happy. No slippage and instant clutch engagement. The old belt still looked pretty good and there was some belt dust under the cover but pretty easy to just blow everything out with an air compressor.