I bought my wife a Yamaha Rhino back in 2005. It's mostly stock other than I have added a family cage, rear seat and Mile Marker winch to it.

I would like to make it better.

It needs better suspension, and more power.

We use it on tight dirt trails and sand dunes so I am open or all options.

Any suggestions?

 

Sell it and buy a RZR!!

It takes a lot of money to get a better suspension, but you can get some aftermarket shocks for it like the Elkas. You can also get long travel a-arms for it, but that will add about 10" to the width, so if your trails are real tight that may not be an option. My buddy has the long travel on his Rhino, and we have some pretty tight trails, but he doesn't have a problem. But most of the trails have already been cut for RZR-S at 60" wide.

For power, you can always get a big bore kit, cams, port job, stroked crank..........the sky is the limit. I used to do all that stuff to my ATV's but found out you lose some reliability when you go too far. Plus the Rhino likes to overheat with a punched-out engine and no aftermarket radiator.

You can check out Lonestar's and Trinity Racing's websites for some ideas.

 

The RZR is why I want to make the Rhino better. I got to ride in a RZR this last weekend and there is NO comparison between the 2.

Thanks for the advice on the other parts and where to find more info.

Here is a picture of it taken a couple days ago:

 

Sweet! I forgot to mention sidebysidesports.com. They have just about anything you can imagine. Just be careful, you could easily dump at least $3000 in the suspension and another $2500 in the motor just to reach factory RZR status.

Another buddy of mine sunk about $10,000 in his Rhino (red one in pic) trying to compete with the RZR. He had all the motor work done, some suspension work, and lots of other stuff, and finally got so frustrated he sold it and bought a RZR. The Rhino had a lift kit that was always breaking or bending, and he had trouble with overheating, too. I'm just warning you, I would embrace the Rhino for what it is, like it is. If you want something better, sell the Rhino and save your money for something that's better from the factory! I like Yamahas way better than a Polaris, but Polaris really hit a homerun with the RZR! You see what everybody else is riding in the pic (mine's the white one)!

 

Gotcha. I plan to spend as little as possible to make the wife's Rhino better than it is. She is not into racing or anything. It is used on tight trails so going too much wider is a concern.

We just want it to be better than it is is with the suspension. It can't take whoops or high speed bumps.

Also: The front wheels sometime have a mind of their own and change directions. We need better steering.

I am thinking a small lift kit, better steering, and better tires. Maybe beadlocks??